


Tangling with the Boss

by Komorii



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Demacian lore, F/M, Flirting, Ionian lore, League of Legends lore, Oral Sex, Sett's Mother, Sett's cute furry ears!, Smut, So much flirting, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23308873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komorii/pseuds/Komorii
Summary: You had fled Demacia, finding yourself in Ionia with nowhere to call home and no one to turn to, but your world was changed for the better when you came across a kind Vastayan, and even more so when you met her rough-around-the-edges son after he saved you from certain death, bringing with him maybe a little too much excitement to your life.
Relationships: Sett (League of Legends)/Reader
Comments: 98
Kudos: 569





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone is doing okay in these hard times! I wanted to write a story about Sett as soon as he came out since there's a distinct lack of cute male champions in league!  
> Some notes for the story:  
> -Sett's mother doesn't actually have a canonical name, so I picked a name for her that I felt fit within Ionian/Vastayan typical name conventions.  
> -Please forgive me if you find Sett OOC, it was fairly difficult to get a read on what he might be like in a romantic setting because all of his special interactions and lore revolve around the fighting pits, so I had to do some guesswork and just do what I thought would fit with his character.  
> -Sett's full name is Settrigh (was in his lore story on League of Legends Universe if anyone wants to read it)
> 
> Note: Updates on my league and other stories can be found on my [tumblr](https://ao3komorii.tumblr.com/)!

Navori, Ionia had not always been your home. You had been a respectable young Demacian citizen, from a good family. You were spoiled, but had never caused any trouble, never created any waves. You had a good education and a supportive family, at least until you woke up on the morning of your twenty-second birthday.

Everyone in Demacia was familiar with the mageseekers. The squad that captured and confined anyone found to have magic powers; magic was a danger, and anyone who possessed any must be removed from society. You had been taught that from an early age, and had seen the mageseekers around in their half-masks, easily accepting their purpose in society. But that day you had woken up in a sweat with a scream, your clothes in tatters from the fire that engulfed your arms and legs. Your parents had burst into the room just as you realized that the fire didn’t hurt.

Your mother gasped and your father stared at you with disgust and hatred in his eyes. They both turned and ran back into the hallway, and you knew the mageseekers would soon be upon you. Everything in your mind had screamed at you to do what was right and wait for the mageseekers to come and take you away forever, but in this moment, you finally realized what a broken system you lived in. If these so-called dangerous mages were anything like you, then they didn’t deserve what had happened to them. And if you stayed, you were looking at life imprisonment at best, and a slow, painful death at worst.

And so you ran. With nothing but a dress hastily grabbed from your closet, you had fled your home and Demacia altogether. Noxus was no friend to Demacia, but the violence that raged there told you that it would not welcome you with open arms. From your years of schooling, you knew that the island of Ionia, across the Noxian waters, would be your only option. Ionia was a place that tolerated magic, which had been a source of disdain for your teacher when it had come to geography lessons. It was just unlucky for you that to get to Ionia, you would have to cross Noxian territory and then find passage on a ship at the Noxian shores that was headed to Ionia.

You had no choice but to cross Noxus, staying on the far borders and attracting as little attention as you could. As someone who had grown up in a wealthy household, it had been a big change for you to suddenly forage for your own food and shelter, your only comfort being your new fire powers keeping you warm in the cold nights. You were slowly growing better at controlling it, but not good enough to avoid a few close calls with suspicious Noxians that you then had to flee from. You were sure that you looked awful, filthy, and tired, but you eventually reached the Noxian coast and managed to sneak onto a small passenger ship as it loaded some barrels.

Getting to Ionia had been a huge culture shock for you; here, magic was everywhere, and people of all kinds roamed the streets. It was such a difference from your old life, but watching families walk the streets reminded you sadly of what you had left behind. You had nothing here but your freedom, which stirred complicated feelings in your heart, but being here alone was much better than rotting in a dungeon or losing your head to the executioner’s block back in Demacia.

You had nowhere to go, and so you had wandered around until your feet hurt and your eyes were tired of being open. You had found an only somewhat grungy alleyway and collapsed in sleep as soon as you had sat down. You had no idea how long you had slept for, but you were awoken by a gentle hand grazing over your hair. Your brain hadn’t fully accepted your fall from Demacian grace, and you opened your eyes expecting to see your mother, but you were instead greeted by a beautiful middle-aged woman with light purple hair and matching soft furred ears atop her head.

You had never seen a Vastayan before, only read about them in books. Your Demacian teachers had only referred to them negatively as barbaric creatures that embraced terrifying magic. But your status as a fugitive mage had you questioning what you had been told, and so you had agreed to the woman’s offer to bring you to her home to patch up the wounds you only now noticed you had, adrenaline keeping the stinging pains at bay until then. 

Ciorah had noticed right away that you were not from Ionia, and she had later told you that she saw something of herself in you that day that made her feel that she couldn’t leave you alone to die on the streets. She had taken you to her modest home, insisting on giving you food and some of her spare clothes. She was nothing but nice to you, and in return you had told her how you came to be in Navori. She had listened, and comforted you in a way that was not unlike your own mother. And she had told you about her son, who she had explained was off building a school at the time, and how sweet a boy he was.

You had talked with her for quite a while, as you had nowhere to be in the first place. When it started to get cold as the night rolled in, Ciorah asked you to show her your magic, and you had obliged only after she had reassured you that Vastaya were creatures of magic, and therefore it was harder to injure them with it. She smiled gently as you allowed a small flame to light in your palm, and helped guide your hand to light a simple blue-tinted candle with ease.

You had been surprised with how easily she guided your magic, unsure of how you had the luck to come across her in the first place. She would not let you leave her home that night, insisting that she had a friend that you had to meet the next day. You were ushered to sleep in her son’s childhood bed, Ciorah silencing all of your protests that you didn’t want to trouble her.

The next day, she took you to see a proud Vastayan woman with a stern gaze and a blonde braid laid over her shoulder. You had been invited into her home, where you noticed delicate glass works displayed around the rooms.

The woman, Inora, became your mentor. She had been creating glass works to sell for years, and had once belonged to the same Vastayan community as Ciorah before they had both been expelled. While Inora looked outwardly intimidating, she sympathized with your situation and had readily offered to help you harness your powers in exchange for working as her apprentice and helping her shape glass with your fire.

You had accepted the apprenticeship, and began to train under Inora, your powers slowly becoming easier to manipulate. Ionia had become your home, and eventually it became easier to avoid thinking of where you had come from. You were often sent out to deliver orders, and it made you happy that Inora trusted you with more responsibilities.

You had just finished your deliveries for the day, and had one more stop to make. When you had some extra materials, Inora would let you make little glass trinkets to give to Ciorah. You had made her a small cat out of glass this time, and fished it out of your bag carefully as you knocked on her door.

Ciorah welcomed you in happily, placing the glass cat beside the other animals you had made for her in past. As with every time you visited her, Ciorah had you seated with a cup of handmade tea in front of you.

“I am always happy to see you doing well,” she said softly, taking a small sip of her own cup of tea.

You smiled, knowing better than to tell her the only reason you were okay was because of her. You had told her so many times already that you didn’t want to get on her nerves, so instead you visited her often and brought her new glass pieces whenever you could to show how much you appreciated her kindness.

“How are you doing?” you asked. You had been worried as of late with there being an increased ruffian presence in town, and Ciorah was an ideal target for those with compromised morals looking for an easy mark.

“Everything is fine,” she reassured you, before looking over to the door with her brow furrowed. “I told Settrigh to come by, but I do not think you will get to meet him today.”

You waved her comment off with a smile. “It’s alright, I know his job keeps him busy.”

In the year you had been in Ionia, you still had yet to meet Ciorah’s son despite all the time you had spent in her company. You knew that he worked hard to provide for her, so you could forgive him for never being there when you were. Though it didn’t make you any less curious to meet the kind, hardworking young man. If he was anything like his mother, you were sure that you would get along well with him. You had Ciorah and Inora, but a part of you lamented no longer having any friends of your own age category.

“Be careful on your way back,” Ciorah’s voice broke through your thoughts. “I have heard that some of the brutes from the fighting pits have been causing trouble lately.”

The fighting pits. You had heard of the brawling arena in the Noxian district of Navori. You hadn’t been in that part of Navori, let alone in the pit itself. You had seen loud, tough-looking men around town, and if they were any indication of what their place of employment was like, you weren’t interested.

“I’ll be careful,” you promised her, changing the subject to something lighter. “Inora wanted me to ask if you needed any supplies…”

Talking with Ciorah caused time to go by without you noticing. It came as a surprise to you when you decided to look behind you to a window and discovered how dark it was outside. Ciorah was quick to notice as well, and insisted that you head home before it got potentially dangerous outside.

“I’ll come by tomorrow,” you promised her as she saw you off with a smile.

The streets of Navori were fairly busy, as it was barely evening. Your walk would only take around fifteen minutes, ten if you took the side streets, which you had opted to do this time. It wasn’t late enough for you to get into any trouble, so you felt safe enough to take your usual shortcuts. Maybe you were being naïve, but although you had heard stories, nothing untoward had happened to you in your time in Ionia. Still, you avoided meeting anyone’s gaze as you maneuvered around a mother and child perusing a fruit cart and entered the alleyway just behind them.

The alleyway was darker than normal, so after a cursory look around, you lit a small flame on your palm after seeing nobody else in the area. With the light of the flame as your guide, you walked to the end of the alleyway, turning the corner as usual and stepping over the dip in the stone floor. You had been mentally going over the list of things you had to remember to tell Inora when you got back, so caught up in your own thoughts that you didn’t notice a large frame move to block your way. You collided with the man who was right in front of you, stumbling back and into another man who was suddenly behind you. You hurriedly looked between them as they both leered down at you, closing in on you.

“We got a little mage here,” the one in front of you taunted, jerking his head to his buddy, which made his choppy, greasy hair bounce.

You gasped; you hadn’t realized that the flame in your palm was still lit, and quickly extinguished it. You had nowhere to go, and they knew it. You could only shudder as the man behind you brought some of your hair to his nose as he stared you down in an intimidating manner.

He dropped the lock of hair as he noticed you looking back at him in terror. “Too good to talk to us?” he jeered.

“She ain’t too good for the fightin’ pits,” the first man added. “They straighten out bitches with their noses in the air.”

“Even if she dies, we’d get a finder’s fee,” the second man replied.

You tried to dash around the man in front of you, but he caught your arm and threw you to the ground. You were about to scream, but silenced yourself with a whimper as a knife was thrust close to your face. The large, greasy man stared down at you with a predatory grin as his friend moved the knife down to press slightly on your neck.

“Yer gonna earn us enough money to pay all our debts!” he announced as you were grabbed and forced back on your feet.

“Or die tryin’!” the other man joked, both men cackling with laughter.

You were dragged out of the alleyway, the knife at your neck replaced by a too-tight grip on your arm to arouse less suspicion. You looked around with eyes wide in terror, hoping that someone noticed you were out of place and needed help. But no matter how much you tried to catch someone’s eye, nobody spared you even a glance. As you were dragged along further, you suspected that this was the seedy part of town, because it seemed like everyone was ignoring you on purpose as you passed them. Everyone here had their own illegal business to conduct and none of them had any care for one girl in trouble.

The next turn opened up to a densely crowded area, packed with women with sharp eyes and men with muscles bigger than any you had seen before. There was not a friendly face in the crowd as you were jostled by the men dragging you through the throng of people and towards a side entrance that was manned by a heavily muscled man with thick eyebrows and tattoos littering his arms.

“We got a late entry,” the man with the vice grip on you stated.

The assumed-bouncer raised a thick eyebrow. “You think she has any chance?”

“If she do, we want our cut of it!” the skinnier captor cackled.

You looked pleadingly at the bouncer, hoping he could see that you were not willing to be here. “Please, help me, I don’t want to–”

You were cut off as a fist to the back of your head caused you to bite your tongue, the taste of iron filling your mouth at the same time as you felt your skull ring with pain.

“Shut it, bitch,” the larger captor shouted.

You felt tears prick your eyes as you silently cried, blood dripping from your mouth and onto your chin. You risked one more look at the bouncer, who stared at you impassively for a moment before standing aside and opening the door. You would get no sympathy here.

“See Dedric’s till, he’ll check you in,” the bouncer grunted, and you were quickly pushed in the door, the man slamming it shut behind your group.

The two men immediately rounded on you and you were shoved against a wall. The skinnier man leaned in towards your face, his chipped and dirty teeth on full display and way too close when you had no room to move away. “You try anythin’ like that again and we’ll kill ya right here.”

“Ain’t no one in the pits gonna care about one dead bitch,” the larger man chimed in.

They wasted no more time, grabbing you and pulling you through the barren hallway and up to a man with an eye patch and shaggy black hair who sat at a desk with a large chart in front of him and a surplus of coins just behind him in a chest.

“Got one more for the lineup,” the skinny man told the man at the till; Dedric, you had to assume.

Dedric grinned as he stared you down. It was clear to you where on your body he was staring, and it wasn’t your eyes. He looked down at his list for only a moment before looking at your captors. “I s’pose you’ll want a finder’s fee,” he drawled. “Ya can get it now, or double after the fight if she survives.”

The brazen talk of your fate sent a shiver up your spine. You let a few more tears fall as the men discussed details, just wishing that you were back with Ciorah; you’d even take a scolding from Inora over the likely awful death you had coming.

“We’ll do the double,” the large captor sneered.

“Ya might get lucky,” Dedric replied, jotting something down on his list. “We got a lotta amateurs on tonight.”

After he finished writing, Dedric finally looked you in the eyes. “Ya got a stage name?”

How dare he even ask when it was so obvious that you were not here of your own free will? You felt anger overwhelm the fear you felt for a moment. You glared at him, refusing to answer his question. You would have no willing part in this murderous spectacle.

Dedric looked annoyed with you, gesturing dismissively to the side. “Take her to the stage. Lookin’ forward to watchin’ the attitude beat out of her.”

The skinny man held his knife to your neck again as you were then pulled down another hallway and towards the competitor’s area, several men in flashy outfits scattered around, sharpening weapons or talking amongst each other.

“Please,” you tried one last time. “Please don’t do this!”

“Please!” the larger man said in a high-pitched mock imitation of your voice, both men breaking out in obnoxious laughter.

“Looks like yer up first!” the skinny one said as they handed you off to another burly man, who you assumed was overseeing the competitors.

“No!” you protested uselessly.

“Use that firepower and maybe you’ll earn us double!” the large captor taunted as they made their way towards the spectator stands.

Without any say in the matter, you were shoved out into the large arena, rows and rows of people staring down at you as you stumbled and fell onto your hands and knees, palms stinging from the impact. Looking around, you noticed no friendly faces in the crowd, just a large group of intimidating strangers that were all sizing you up.

Just as you were standing up, chatter and applause rang out from all around you, and you looked for the source, since it obviously wasn’t you. You didn’t have to look far as a man strutted out from the pit entrance behind you.

He strutted around the ring, giving you an opportunity to assess him as well. He was a large figure, muscles prominently on display from his lack of a shirt, red paint splashed across his skin like blood. Or maybe it _was_ blood, he was too far away from you at the moment for you to tell. He was clearly Noxian, a large Noxian crest tattoo visible on his back when he turned his back to you in order to face the crowd. He flexed his muscles for the loudly cheering crowd for a few more minutes before he finally acknowledged you, although your attention had been turned away from him to look for any escape routes.

“Too bad we gotta fight,” he remarked offhandedly. “You’d make a real nice ring girl.”

He said it loudly, despite being ten or so feet away from you, obviously intending to impress the crowd with his trash talking. You just rolled your eyes, feeling bitter and angry that you had even gotten in this situation in the first place. You would never see Ciorah or Inora again because two criminals decided to target you, and it wore down any spirit you had left to think that you had made a happy life here just to die in the fighting pits.

The announcer then declared that the fight was to begin from his cushy podium, sending your heart rate skyrocketing. You were very clearly trapped; scaling the twenty foot walls that led up to the stands wasn’t going to be an option. Your opponent walked to the opposite side of the arena that would be his starting point, readying himself by materializing two very sharp daggers out of thin air and sending a bloodthirsty smirk your way.

This practice was barbaric, and you took one last look at the crowd for any hope of someone who would understand that you weren’t here willingly and want to help you, but all you saw in their eyes was their eagerness to watch you die. You felt disappointment radiate from within you as movement caught your eye; a large man entered a relatively barren area of the stands, and you noticed the furred ears atop his head immediately. A Vastayan in the fighting pits? The only Vastayans you knew were the opposite of anyone who would ever come here. You realized that he was looking back at you as your eyes drifted from his ears to his eyes. You weren’t sure what to make of his cold, calculated gaze, but a loud whistle brought you back to your current problem; the fight was on.

Your opponent began to run at you, faster than you thought possible, and you threw yourself to the side just in time to dodge the first swipe of his blades. You had no combat experience at all, all you had was your magic. Magic that you sparingly used and had never used to hurt anyone before. The thought of using your magic like that scared you, but you didn’t have a lot of options at the moment. You scrambled up and were about to make a run for it, but found yourself pinned in place as the Noxian threw both of his daggers, which struck both sides of your loose-fitting shirt and then embedded in the wall behind you, one dagger grazing the flesh of your side as well. You cried out in pain, too scared to form tears as you tried to pry the daggers from the wall to free yourself.

The man sauntered over lazily to screams from the audience for him to finish you off. “We had some fun, sweetheart. But I think it’s time to show you how we say goodbye in Noxus.”

You didn’t understand his reference, but the crowd got noticeably excited as he cracked his knuckles, now only a foot away from you. Even if you escaped the daggers, he was too close for you to get away from him. This brute would take your life to the sounds of thunderous applause unless you did something now. You took your hands off of the daggers and raised them up, palms facing towards the Noxian.

“Please stop…” you begged him. You really didn’t want to hurt him, but you didn’t want to die. You would have to put up a fight.

“Little late to be beggin’ for mercy!” he cackled, and one of the daggers pinning you disappeared and reappeared in his hand. “Time’s up!”

His dagger didn’t have a chance to get closer as you let go and he was blasted with a spray of searing fire.

  
It was turning out to be a bad night for Sett.

He had been disturbed on the way to his ma’s house by one of his men in a panic, who had informed him that the two competitors for the crowd-drawing fight of the night had gotten in a drunken brawl earlier and had both been arrested by the Ionian authorities. His knuckles twitched as he changed course and made his way to the pit earlier than he had intended to. He knew that his ma would forgive him, but he hated breaking promises that he made to her. Sett had a way he liked doing things, but without a headlining fight, his options were slim; get in the ring himself, or put on an amateur night.

His momma had been worried about the influx of Noxians to the Ionian shores lately, and he knew she would be on high alert for any new injuries on him. The one thing he hated above all was being the cause of her worries, so he gave the orders to scout out competitors for amateur night. Maybe he’d find some new talent to replace the two drunken morons permanently. He wasn’t worried about either of them complaining about being replaced; it was a well-known fact that Sett didn’t give second chances. Not to anyone that messed with his money.

Once a group of men had been dispatched to spread the news that they were recruiting for the night, Sett made sure everyone was aware of the change. Newbie nights always drew in a lot of overconfident braggarts who spent more time showboating than they lasted in the ring, so everything would be timed carefully. The more fights he could pack in one night, the more bets they could take in. Amateur nights almost never had clear winners before the fights began, so the house won more than on nights where the big names came to fight. It sorta made up for the smaller crowds on amateur nights, but some money was better than no money.

Ensuring everything was ready took longer than usual, and by the time Sett had taken his place in the stands, the first fight was about to start. He already had a distaste for the muscle man with the Noxian tattoo. They never seemed to stop reminding him of the father that had abandoned him and his ma. He didn’t feel the need to fight Noxians in general, but he never minded watching them lose in his pit. The Noxian was parading around; not unexpected for a rookie to go heavy on the taunts but light on the punches.

Having had his fill of assessing the Noxian, Sett turned his gaze to the other competitor, only to discover that she had been staring at him already. They met eyes for a few moments, which was enough for Sett to notice how out of place she looked. Last minute nerves happened sometimes, but this girl was on another level. He was across the pit from her, but he suspected that she was crying. What kind of idiot had booked this crybaby for a fight?

“Who did she sign up with?” he asked one of the till masters, Ryo, who had also come to watch the fight.

“I saw her at Dedric’s with two other guys,” was the answer he received.

Dedric… Dedric had been working at the pits since before Sett had taken them over, which was something he knew the man had been unhappy about. Sett didn’t insist that everyone like him, but he expected obedience to his rules. And signing up weaklings for fights that lasted ten seconds was not good for business. If fights were short, the spectators got bored, and his tills got lighter.

“Do you want to stop the fight?” Ryo asked carefully, knowing better than to force any opinion on the pit boss.

“Nah,” Sett replied. “Let it go on. But I want Dedric’s till checked at the end of the night.”

Bets had been taken, and Sett wasn’t going to stop the fight now and lose out on the coin it generated. He would talk to Dedric later; for now, he was interested to see if the cocky Noxian had any skills to back up his mouthing off.

The Noxian brandished two daggers from thin air and charged at the girl. Sett stared her down, waiting for her to do something worthy of interest as she dived to the side to avoid a direct blow. Well, maybe the fight would last twenty seconds instead of ten, he mused.

The Noxian’s next move pinned the girl to the wall with his daggers, and he began to taunt her as she cried and begged for mercy. Sett had thought something was up before, but now he knew. Dedric would have to be out of his mind to book this girl, unless he was counting on fixing some easy matches. Nobody would volunteer for a match to the death that they didn’t think they could win, and Sett smelled a rat. He kept his business away from the Ionian authorities’ grasp, but shit like kidnapping local girls for pit fights would bring attention that he did not want. He wouldn’t stop this fight and draw attention away from the matches, but Dedric was gonna learn very soon why he should’ve played by Sett’s rules.

He flexed his knuckles as he watched the Noxian go for the killing blow; the corpse cart standing by, ready to collect the girl’s body. But the cheers and chants from the crowd died down to a whisper as the Noxian let out a terrified scream. Sett only had a second to duck as a wave of fire shot out from the girl, which travelled all the way across the room and ended at the wall directly behind where he had been standing.

At first he thought it had been an attack meant for him, but as he glanced down to the pit, he saw that the fire had hit its intended mark. The Noxian was unrecognizable, a black human-shaped figure. Sett couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead, but the corpse cart was wheeled over as the girl collapsed on the floor, the remaining dagger in her side disappearing, a clear sign that the Noxian was no longer alive. Her clothes in burnt tatters, the girl curled up on her side and sobbed. It wasn’t a sight he had seen in the pit before, and he was taken aback.

“Guess she ain’t as weak as she looks,” Ryo remarked with a low whistle.

The crowd remembered to breathe again as the body of the Noxian was wheeled away. There was a mix of cheers and boos, the latter likely from those who had bet against the girl. The doors to the pit opened up, an enforcer entering with two men at his heels. The men were out of place, looking more like con artists than pit fighters. Ryo was looking out at the same scene as the two men attempted to haul the girl to her feet as she resisted heavily.

“Those were the guys who brought her in. You think…?” Ryo prompted.

“Yeah.” Ryo didn’t have to finish his sentence for Sett to know that they both suspected the same thing about the situation. “Invite those two to the back office. I want the girl separated from them. I’ll deal with Dedric later.”

Ryo immediately left to oversee the orders, and Sett watched as Ryo appeared in the arena and had the two men and the girl escorted out of the pit so the next competitors could fight it out. He trusted that Ryo could handle the problem for now; any action on his part would have to wait until the crowd had gone home for the night. And with more fights to come, Sett settled back into his chair and kept his focus on the pit.

  
You were not being dragged away by those creeps again, not after barely surviving the fight at the expense of taking a life. You struggled, hoping the pressure of the crowd would keep them from pulling the knife on you again.

“Get up!” the skinny one screeched at you. “Get your ass up!”

Their tugging on your limbs paused as a man with dark hair in a low ponytail and an overly pleasant smile approached.

“Gentleman, the boss would like to talk some business after the rounds,” he explained smoothly. “We may even triple your finder’s fee.”

Your heart sunk. So nobody here was a decent person? You would get nowhere being on the floor, so you reluctantly stood up, your captors taking an arm each to allow you no chance of escape. You could only do what you could to avoid further violence being inflicted on you. You followed the smooth-talking man down the hallway you had been in before, up until he stopped in front of a door.

“You can wait in here for the boss,” the man announced, but didn’t stand aside for the men to enter. “She’s gotta go in another room. Can’t have the talent present while the men talk business.”

Your captors seemed to accept his logic, stepping into the room, obviously mentally counting their imminent profits from your enslavement. Whereas all you could think about was how you were going to get out of this. You were reluctant to hurt anyone, but maybe if you threatened this man with your powers, he’d let you leave. You followed him to the room next door, readying yourself to throw a fireball and run if necessary. But before you could work up your nerve, the door was shut and you were left alone with a promise that the boss would be paying you a visit soon.

You paced around the room, trying to think of what to do. Inora must be so worried that you hadn’t returned home, but you had no way to contact her from here. And even if you did, you doubted that she could get you out of this viper’s den. You would have to do something. You had lost track of time, stuck in your own thoughts until you heard muffled shouting from the room next door. You couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the voices sounded angry. You crept closer to the wall to try and hear better, but just as you put your ear to the wall, there was a heavy impact to the other side of the wall, which jolted you backwards, landing on your back and knocking the wind out of you.

You had to get out of here. You had heard the click of a lock earlier when the smooth-talker had left, but maybe you could just burn the door down? You ran a hand along the door; it was unfortunately solid. You had never tested your powers like this before, so you were unsure of if you could accidentally enflame the entire building. You had no idea what had happened in the room next door, which was now eerily quiet, but you weren’t about to be next. Not without trying to get out of here. You placed both palms to the wooden door, ready to burn right through it, when it was opened from the outside, sending you flying forward, eyes shut reflexively for the impact to the floor.

“And here I thought you were done fightin’.”

Your eyes snapped open at the deep male voice and sudden grip on your forearms, only to see the Vastayan man from before. You were eye-level with his very muscular chest, and looked further up to see him looking down at you with an eyebrow raised. Up close, you could make out every little scratch on his ruggedly handsome face, your eyes drawn to one small white scar that ran down one side of his bottom lip and ended just a bit above his chin. You came back to yourself all at once, flushing with embarrassment as you realized that you had been staring at him too long.

You remembered your situation, jerking back and out of his grip, which surprised him. Your need to separate yourself from him resulted in you falling to the floor again, and you began to quickly scramble away from the man.

He brought a hand up to itch at the back of his neck as he casually stepped into the room. “Relax,” he said, moving closer to you. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

“Please, please don’t–” You were babbling, and you knew it, but you didn’t know what else to do as you curled into a ball on the floor, keeping your eyes on his approaching figure.

He looked somewhat annoyed, halting where he stood a few feet away from you. “Look, we beat the story outta those scumbags that brought you here. You’re free to go.”

His words swept away your fears of immediate and swift peril, which was quickly replaced by confusion as you slowly sat up. “But…”

“I know what good girls like you think ‘a the pits, but mine ain’t like that,” he explained. “We only take willing fighters.”

“I didn’t…” you trailed off, deciding not to voice your half-hearted protests. You definitely had thought exactly that, so you weren’t sure why you had tried to deny his assertion. “You’re going to let me leave?”

“I would invite ya back, but I don’t think the pit is the right place for a cryin’ city girl,” he replied.

“Thank you!” you exclaimed, ignoring the insult. You weren’t sure what to say, but you didn’t want him to have any reason to reverse his decision. He ran a fighting pit, so clearly he wasn’t all there morally, but you didn’t want to stay here and access him further, not when he was giving you a free pass to get out of here.

You stood up, keeping your eyes on him as you inched towards the door, the man staring back at you with what looked like amusement, keeping his gaze on you as you passed by him and into the hallway. You weren’t sure where to go from here, but you were afraid to seem like you didn’t know what you were doing.

“Wrong way,” he called out when you were halfway down the hallway in your chosen direction. You flinched at his voice, turning around and sheepishly walking back in his direction as he chuckled.

“Down the hall and to the left,” he said as you passed by him.

You walked a little faster at his words, but followed his directions. You were too nervous to look back, and you hurried around the corner, feeling his eyes on you until you fully left his sight. You were grateful that there was one decent person in this place, but you wanted to be out of here as soon as possible.

The air outside the arena was stale, but welcome to your frazzled nerves. You walked among the crowd of exiting patrons, hoping that they wouldn’t take notice of you if you kept your head down. Luckily for you, it was a busy night of betting, and that’s all the crowd around you could talk about. You stuck close to a group of women that were discussing how attractive one of the fighters was until you were back on the main streets again. You were grateful for all the loud people on the streets, because nobody paid any attention to you as you took only well-lit paths back to Inora’s home, eyes flitting around as you kept watch for any more goons in your way. You weren’t sure what the man had meant when he told you that he had dealt with your kidnappers, but if they were out on the streets, then you needed to be off of them as soon as you could be.

Inora was in her favorite chair by the front door as you unlocked the door and came in. She practically leapt from the chair, rushing over to you once she noticed your appearance. You hadn’t had a chance to look in a mirror, but you knew that your clothes were dirty and ripped, a patch of your shirt stained with your blood from the Noxian’s dagger. You must have looked awful, and would likely have bruises all over once you woke up tomorrow.

Inora sat you down and began to fuss over your injuries, washing your cuts and bandaging the worst of them as you told you what had happened to you.

“Those dirty kidnappers,” she growled. “They are a scourge on Navori!”

You didn’t want to make her any more stressed, so you shortened your summary of the fight and skipped to the part where the Vastayan man let you leave. Inora had only calmed down slightly, her protective nature setting in as she made you some dinner, despite your offers to help her. You sat patiently in your chair, hoping that being as calm as you could would keep her from acting on her threats to go down to the arena and give them a piece of her mind.

You had to beg her not to tell Ciorah about what had happened. Ciorah was a sweet lady who already worried too much about the dangers of the streets, and you didn’t want her constantly stressed with worry for you every time you left her home. Inora was reluctant, but understood why you wanted to keep the experience a secret from Ciorah. You were eventually allowed to go to bed after Inora had finished fussing over you, and you were so tired that you passed out almost immediately.

  
The next day, you were anxious to get out of the house and visit Ciorah. You had woken up in slight pain from bruises all over your body, but otherwise you were feeling better. Unlike you, however, Inora had woken up even more protective than the day before. She hadn’t let you do any glass work, stating that since you had used your powers to the extreme yesterday, using them today would be too much of a strain on you. You had tried to tell her that you felt fine, but no amount of convincing would lessen her worries. She barely let you make your own food, and you were trying to be patient, but felt like you were going a bit crazy with her constant hovering around you.

“…and if you’re still there when it gets dark, stay there and I’ll come get you,” Inora instructed you as you stood by the door, ready to leave for Ciorah’s home. She had been talking at you for several minutes now, and you decided to just let her talk until she got it all out. Only after agreeing to all of her conditions did she let you leave at last, and you took only busy streets to get to Ciorah’s house.

You had tried to wear enough clothing to cover all of your bruises and cuts, but you hadn’t worn a bag over your head, so Ciorah noticed the scrapes on your face and hands immediately. She fretted over you as she ushered you into her home, and you were immediately reminded of Inora, who had done the exact same thing. You gently refuted her worries, sitting down opposite her at her small table.

“I tripped and fell into a thorn bush,” you carefully stated your rehearsed lie. “I’m fine!”

You felt bad at just how easily Ciorah believed your lie, but you knew it had to be done. She didn’t need the extra stress, and you didn’t want to make her even more concerned about the ruffians at the pits. You bit down any urges to tell her the truth, covering up your guilt with a smile just as a knock came at the door.

You felt unease rise up within you as Ciorah excused herself to go to the door. The only person who had ever visited when you were here was Inora, and your mind began to race, trying to think of what to do if Inora was here to tell Ciorah tell truth. It seemed like you couldn’t escape the awkward conversation, and so you stared at the wall that was blocking your view of the entrance and tried to think of any possible way to explain to her why you had lied without damaging her trust in you. You thought you were doing her a favor, but now that your plan was backfiring majorly, you were feeling even worse.

You listened intently as Ciorah opened the door, waiting to hear Inora’s voice that you knew was coming. Instead, you heard a man’s voice, and an excited coo from Ciorah, which derailed your train of thought entirely.

“Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday,” the male voice said. “The boss’s daughter was sick, so I did his share of work too.”

“I am just happy to see you, Settrigh,” Ciorah replied warmly.

As soon as you heard the name, you realized that it was Ciorah’s elusive son at the door. You admittedly could use the help in distracting Ciorah from your injuries, but more than anything you were interested in finally meeting the son that Ciorah often spoke so fondly of. You let a smile light your face in excitement as Ciorah came back into the room, and the large figure just behind her sent your heart racing.

You barely heard Ciorah introduce you to her son as you stared at him, eyes wide and skin feeling cold with dread. Settrigh stared back at you in shock, neither of you breaking your shared gaze until Ciorah asked her son if he would like some tea.

“Yes, ma,” Settrigh answered politely, and the blatant change in his personality from last night shocked you.

The calm didn’t last long, because as soon as Ciorah left the room to prepare the tea, Settrigh quickly crossed the room to get in your face, voice threatening despite being at whisper volume. “Did you tell her?”

“What?” you whispered back.

He glared at you, unamused by your lack of answer. “Did you tell my ma about what I do?”

“No!” you squeaked, backing away in fear. “I didn’t want to worry her… and besides, I didn’t know _you_ were her son!”

“You better not be lyin’,” he threatened, and the implications of his words were clear. You say anything and he would do the same thing to you that he did to your kidnappers last night. You didn’t know what to do to get him to understand that he could trust you.

“Settrigh–” you tried to plead, but his growl shut you up.

“Sett,” he grunted. “Momma’s the only one who calls me Settrigh.”

“I… I’m sorry.” You didn’t know what else to say to abate his sudden anger.

He scoffed. “Relax, I’m not gonna hurt ya. Just remember that my momma don’t need to know what I really do.”

You nodded definitely too many times for it to look casual as Ciorah came back into the room with a tray of three teacups with a soft purple flower pattern dotting the rims. With Ciorah here, you felt a little safer than being left alone with him, and could take the time to examine him more closely. You sat back down at the table and tried to stifle a laugh at the sight of the heavily-muscled man sitting in a chair half as wide as he was and drinking from a dainty little teacup. Sett caught your nearly-silent giggle and frowned at you.

“Settrigh, do not grip the cup so hard!” Ciorah scolded him, and Sett hastened to apologize to his mother, his furry ears drooping down in a way you realized that you found cute. Such a fierce beast in his pit, but a tamed puppy in front of his mom.

As you sipped your tea, Ciorah fetched your newest figure from its position on a small stand and held it out to Sett, who took it to admire politely.

“She brings me these when she has extra materials,” Ciorah said proudly, smiling at you as she addressed her son. “I told you that she helps Aunt Inora?”

Sett stared at you like he was seeing you for the first time. “The Demacian girl…” he muttered to himself.

Ciorah had told him about you? You felt shy as you wondered exactly how much she had told him about your life. Other than Ciorah and Inora, nobody in Ionia knew your shameful history. You really shouldn’t care, but you felt shame at this man who had grown up with a loving mother knowing that you had travelled across a continent because your family didn’t want you. You tried to ration with yourself that you didn’t need his approval, didn’t need him to like you, but you found yourself longing for any connection with someone your own age. But you didn’t want to seem desperate, so you pushed your emotions away for now and chatted casually with Ciorah, too scared to talk directly to Sett and give him any more reasons to dislike you.

Watching him interact with his mother made you feel happy, but also empty and jealous. Eventually, you were content to just let them talk as you nursed your tea, sinking into thoughts you hadn’t allowed yourself to dwell on in a long time. Thoughts about your family, of how you’d never see them again unless you wanted to give yourself up for death as a Demacian fugitive. That even if you did, they would only ever see you as a black mark on their otherwise-perfect legacy.

You didn’t notice as a tear fell from your face and into your now-cold tea, but both sets of sensitive Vastayan ears perked up at the tiny sound it made. Only when Ciorah called your name did you realize that you were crying.

“Sorry!” you cried out, embarrassed at losing control of your emotions. You stumbled out of your seat, rushing towards the front door, not stopping at the calls of your name from Ciorah as you opened the door and rushed out into the street. You only slowed down when you reached an empty alleyway, wiping your face with your long sleeve as you cursed your own judgment. Less than a day after you had been kidnapped in an alleyway, and here you were being careless yet again.

“Hey!” a shout startled you as your upper arm was gripped firmly, and you looked over to see Sett looking sternly down at you. “What are you doing? You nearly gave ma a heart attack!”

You didn’t have the strength to pull your arm from his grip, and you looked at the ground as you answered. “…it’s nothing.”

“You think I’m stupid?” Sett growled. “Nobody cries without a reason. I understand if you don’t wanna tell me, but I don’t like it when ma worries.”

He wasn’t going to drop it, so you finally looked up at his face, surprised to see that he didn’t look as angry as his voice had sounded. He raised an eyebrow at you, which finally prompted you to talk.

“I don’t know how much Ciorah told you about me, but…” You struggled for words for a moment. “Seeing you two interact just made me miss my family back in Demacia. Which is stupid, because they didn’t want me the second they knew I had magic…”

“Savages,” Sett remarked darkly. “All ma told me ‘bout your past was that you came from Demacia, but after seein’ your magic, I’m not surprised you’re here. Those fools think they’re above _lowly_ magic and then imprison any inconvenient mages that slip through the cracks of their lineage.”

You inhaled sharply, surprised at his words, and he released your arm at last, leaning back against the alley wall. “Besides the pits, ma’s all I got. My pa wanted money more than his family, so he ran off to be a big shot pit fighter in Noxus.”

“Sett…” you whispered, and he turned his sharp gaze to you, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“I don’t need your pity, fireball. As long as I have coin for ma, and keep my pit runnin’, I’m not worried about my pa. As long as he doesn’t show his face back in Navori, that is.”

“Sorry for running out,” you said quietly, feeling very embarrassed about your childish behavior.

“You don’t need to say that to me,” he said casually. “But you really worried ma.”

“I don’t know if I can face her now,” you admitted honestly.

Sett laughed. “She won’t be mad, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve gotten on her bad side before and you ain’t even close.”

Sett turned to leave the alleyway and you trailed just behind him. His legs were much longer than yours, but he was obviously slowing his stride to allow you to keep pace with him. You made sure that your eyes were dry when you arrived back at Ciorah’s house, and were embraced by her as soon as she saw you. Somehow, Sett silently standing nearby gave you the confidence to tell her what had upset you. She had held you very tightly, much more than you had thought capable of a woman of her small stature.

By the time she had gotten the full story out of you, the sun had begun to set. Remembering Inora’s warning, you reluctantly admitted that you should head back home.

“Settrigh will escort you home,” Ciorah said sweetly; her tone kind, but firm. You didn’t dare disagree, but you were surprised at how Sett immediately agreed to her request.

He was so clearly a momma’s boy. You felt bad for judging him so harshly upon first meeting him. Though that didn’t excuse him running the violent, thug-infested pits, but you forced yourself to take comfort in the fact that he seemed to only allow willing competitors to fight in matches. You realized that he had never explicitly told you what had been done to your kidnappers, and your fear of running into them on the streets again prompted you to ask him as you departed Ciorah’s home.

“Are they… dead?” you asked quietly, scared of what his answer would be.

Sett shrugged. “I didn’t kill them, if that’s what you’re asking. They’ve been banned from the pit, and _encouraged_ to leave town.”

Your eyes widened in surprise. You were so sure that he had killed them. It was the pits, people died there all the time and nobody ever questioned it.

“Before you go thinkin’ I’m a saint, I did rough them up a bit,” he added. “Can’t have scumbags thinkin’ they can get around my rules.”

It was somewhat reassuring; you felt bad to be disappointed that they were still alive, but hopefully they wouldn’t be in any shape to try and get revenge. You didn’t want to experience any more violence; it was bad enough that you had killed someone, even though you had no choice. Silence dragged on as you walked alongside Sett until you were almost home.

“Y’know, if you ever get tired of Inora, I’m always lookin' for capable fighters,” he said, startling you out of your thoughts.

You stopped in your tracks, gaping at him as you tried to think of how to answer without offending him. He let out a bark of laughter as he stared back at you. “Sorry, city girl, just wanted to scare ya. You’re strong, but I know the pit fighter life ain’t for ya.”

He just said that to bug you? You had genuinely been worried that he would make you fight again! Fortunately, you didn’t have to wait long for revenge as Sett winced with a yelp as he was smacked in the back of the head by a strong hand.

“Settrigh!” Inora scolded. “You never visit anymore, and when I do see you, you’re out here picking on my apprentice!”

“Aunt Inora…” Sett greeted weakly.

She smacked him again. “I don’t tell your mother about your work and you repay me by allowing innocent girls to be forced to fight? What if she didn’t have powers and died!?”

“I’m sorry!” Sett yelped, before noticing you snickering at him again. “Hey!”

“I’ve ignored your seedy business long enough because you take care of Ciorah! You will apologize to this girl, not me!” she demanded.

Sett looked very defeated, and you were taking a bit too much joy out of watching the intimidating man be taken to task by a woman much older and smaller than him, though you would have to ask her how she knew that he ran the pit. He turned to face you with a grimace; he must have been used to her wrath if he folded so easily. Luckily, nobody was around at the moment to see his suffering but you and Inora.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding at least halfway sincere.

“Settrigh…” Inora warned, but you couldn’t help but jump in on his misery.

“I’ll forgive you if you let me pet your ears!” you teased him.

“What?” he snarled. “I’m not a–”

“Settrigh!” Inora scolded him with a smack to his biceps. “She’s being a lot nicer than your mother would be if she knew what you did to the poor girl!”

Sett growled, his eyes telling you that he would get you back for making him submit to your request. But you were having too much fun with the large half-Vastayan man and reached a hand up as he bent down to allow you to reach his furred ears. To your glee, they were incredibly soft. You ran your hand along the silken fur until a quiet noise from Sett stilled your hand as you looked back down at his face to see a flush to his skin that wasn’t there before. When he noticed you staring at him, he swatted your hand away at last, muttering something to himself and brushing past you to walk in the direction you had come from without another word.

“That boy is so predictable,” Inora mused as you followed her inside.

“You knew he ran the pit?” you couldn’t help but ask.

“It was hard for him when his father left,” Inora answered. “Hard for Ciorah too. People feared his father, so they were accepted, but they were not liked. After his father left, they no longer tolerated Settrigh. He had no choice but to grow up too soon.”

He had mentioned his father had left, but you didn’t realize he had been bullied. You weren’t sure what to say, so you said nothing and let Inora continue to talk.

“He used to get in fights all the time. Kids would say things to him about his mother and it would upset him. He grew up eventually, but I suspected he hadn’t really stopped fighting. I asked around and found out that he had taken over the pit,” she explained.

“And you didn’t tell Ciorah?” you wondered aloud.

She shook her head. “He begged me not to. With his money, she did not have to work gruelling jobs to support them anymore. I hate to admit it, but this way, Ciorah is safe and healthy. She struggled for a long time after we were forced to leave our tribe, and all Settrigh wants is his mother’s happiness.”

“I can see that,” you agreed. “I was really scared of him yesterday, but after seeing him act like an obedient puppy with you and Ciorah…” You couldn’t help but laugh as you recalled him being bossed around by the women.

“He’s a good son,” Inora assented. “I admit that maybe I went a little far with the ear pats.”

She noted your confusion and giggled. “Vastayan ears are more sensitive than human ears, and Settrigh’s even more than average. His mother used to pet his ears to calm him down when other kids would tease him.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to–” you started, but silenced you by waving off your concerns with a smile.

“He hasn’t come by in so long, so he deserved a little teasing as my revenge!” she joked. “He needs a break from being a big scary pit boss occasionally!”

  
“You’ve been distracted lately,” Ryo told Sett bluntly. Other men in his pit would be too afraid of insulting the pit boss to talk to him like that, but Ryo knew that Sett trusted him, and liked to think of himself as the closest thing the Vastayan brute had to a friend. They did not see each other outside of the pit, but they both spent so much time there that it didn’t matter.

Neither one of the men pulled punches with each other, and Sett’s personality change had not gone unnoticed by Ryo. He knew that it had started sometime around when they had dealt with those woman-nappers, but Ryo hadn’t been able to pinpoint what had changed his friend. Sett was as focussed on the coin as ever, but Ryo had caught him lost in thought much more often over the past month. Sett, however, kept his thoughts stubbornly hidden, no matter how hard Ryo tried to pull the secrets from him.

“Caiyana finally make you an offer you couldn’t refuse?” Ryo teased, knowing that there was no chance that Sett would answer in the affirmative. Caiyana, the deadly assassin-turned-pit fighter had her keen eye on Sett since she found her way to the pits. Sett had been cordial, even friendly to her, but Ryo knew the boss well enough to tell that he maintained a professional distance from the beautiful murderess, as much as a pit boss could be called professional.

Sett scoffed. “That woman ain’t into anythin' but Noxian gold.”

“Then you two have a lot in common,” Ryo replied dryly. Sett was blind if he thought Caiyana wouldn’t give up her booking fee for the night if it meant that she could jump the boss’s bones.

Ryo allowed silence to overtake the room as they double and then triple checked the coin count from the night’s lost bets. Ryo focussed his attention on organizing the coins, until everything was all set in its rightful place and Sett had no business to use as an excuse to not answer his friend, so Ryo tried again.

“I’m not stupid, Sett,” Ryo said smoothly. “If not Caiyana, you’ve got someone on your mind. You’re not smooth enough to hide your schoolboy crush from my eyes.”

“You wanna say that again?” Sett growled, and Ryo was confident that Sett prized the bag of coins in his grip too much to throw it at his head for that comment.

Ryo had always liked to get the last word with his burly friend, so he stood up with his modest cut of the night’s profits, sauntering to the door with confidence. “Bring her around sometime. I want to meet the woman that puts up with a momma’s boy like you.”

  
Sett noticed that people in the streets gave him a wider berth than usual, and he figured he must look as pissed as he felt. He valued his friend’s honesty and loyalty, but Ryo really loved pushing his buttons. They liked to bug each other often, but Sett hadn’t expected Ryo to bring up his love life, non-existent as it was.

Sett had never had flings with women, even after his rise to popularity within the dregs of Ionian society. When his father was still here, nobody really talked to him out of fear. But after the scumbag had run off on them, all hell had broken loose. No girl would look at the fatherless half-breed bastard with anything but scorn in their eyes. And then he had grown some muscles and taken over the pit and only then women became eager to throw themselves at him. He could see through their flattery as if they were made of glass; he wasn’t egotistical enough to believe these women truly had any interest in any part of him other than his prestige and his wallet. They liked the pretty package, but would balk if they got a look inside his damaged soul. None of these women had any time to waste on a bastard with thinly-veiled daddy issues.

He wasn’t about to tell Ryo, but he did have more than the pit to think about as of late. He had run into you a lot lately when he visited his momma in the daytime. He hadn’t noticed it himself, but he had begun to expect you to be there when he stopped by. The last time he had been by to bring ma some more coin, he found himself looking at your usual chair as he entered the home. Ma had noticed immediately, informing him that you were out making deliveries. Sett couldn’t pretend he wasn’t looking for you, but he bristled at his momma’s next sly comment about you being _unattached_. It seemed that his pensive mood had followed him into the pit, and it annoyed the hell outta him.

Sett didn’t have a crush. He wasn’t a boy anymore, nor an awkward teenager. He had never bothered with women, not unless it benefitted his pit. He was annoyed with himself for wanting to be around you. But he wasn’t about to trust Ryo with that information and open himself up for his friend’s teasing. The pit would be closed for cleaning the next day; it had been a bloodier week than usual, but Sett would welcome the time off so he could have more time to spend with his momma.

  
You had been too busy to see Ciorah lately, and by extension Sett as well, since you only ever saw him at his mother’s house. A rich collector had come upon your work, and had been commissioning you and Inora to make him various glassworks, which on top of your usual amount of work made you so busy that you had no time for anything else. The worst part being that the collector was sleazy; he insisted that _you_ deliver the finished pieces, and would then make various excuses to keep you in his home as long as possible. You had wanted to tell Inora, but the man had been paying you well, money you knew would really help Inora at the moment, so you put up with it. You had survived the pit and the journey across the Noxian sea, you could take one so-far harmless creep.

You had just finished delivering another sculpture, following the man around his house until he finally decided where the perfect place for his new glasswork would be. You had hoped that would be the end of it, that he would for once have mercy on you and let you leave, but it was never that easy with this guy. You had been standing outside of his house, trying to excuse yourself for around twenty minutes as he continued to ignore your excuses and talk over you.

“…I do paint sometimes, you know. You should come model for me, you’re beautiful enough. I’ve always wanted to paint a nude model in a field of flowers. You’d be very happy as my model, happier than dirtying yourself with glass dust,” he rambled.

“I… I don’t…” You weren’t sure how to refuse him without losing his business; he had never been this bold with his creepiness before. “I like my work…”

“You can’t possibly think you’ll get anywhere in life working in that tiny shop,” he said, and you bit your lip in frustration at his patronizing tone. You needed to get out of here before you really lost it on him.

“You’ve got such a beautiful body,” he drawled, either oblivious or uncaring as to how hard you were trying to exit this conversation. “Your breasts were made to be painted–”

He was startled out of his speech by a large hand on his shoulder. You gasped in surprise, relief coloring your cheeks with warmth as you saw Sett right behind him. You hadn’t even seen him coming. The creep had an entirely different reaction as he stumbled away from the very angry half-Vastayan. The collector fell backwards in his urgency to get away from Sett, falling onto his butt in shock, but still had the nerve to speak.

“Y-you beast! Beasts like you don’t belong in the presence of civilized folk!” he bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Sett, who lifted an eyebrow, his gaze still sharp and angry.

“You gonna apologize?” Sett growled lowly.

“Apologize?!” the man screeched. “Why should I apologize when you’re the one harassing civilians?”

“To her,” was Sett’s reply as he stared the man down. “That ain’t how ya talk to women half your age.”

“Excuse me?” the man exclaimed, getting red in the face from all the shouting he had been doing. “Mutts like you need to mind their own business!”

Sett’s eyes flashed dangerously at the insult, and your gaze flickered down to his fingers as he flexed them in what you assumed meant that this was going to get ugly. You quickly grabbed the hand closest to you before Sett could reply, and after a moment’s resistance, he allowed you to drag him away from the flustered man who was still on the floor.

“Thank you for your patronage!” you called out in the sweetest tone you could manage as you turned the corner, leaving the creep to cower and sputter on the ground.

“Sett, what were you…?” you queried him as soon as you got what you hoped was a good distance away from the creepy collector’s home.

“Ma needed more milk,” he answered, holding up a small woven bag that you hadn’t noticed that he had been carrying.

“Oh…” you replied stiffly, feeling awkward as you noticed that you were both still holding hands.

Sett looked down at you sternly, and you weren’t sure if he was aware of your joined hands or not. “You shouldn’t let people treat ya like that. Who knows what that bastard would’ve done if I hadn’t stepped in.”

“I know,” you groaned. “He buys a lot from us and Inora really needed the money to replace a torch I broke by accident…”

“Inora wouldn’t take his money if she knew what he was sayin’ to you,” Sett retorted darkly. “No coin is worth a woman bein’ treated like that.”

For such a big, intimidating guy, he sure was sweet to you lately. Sett took you out of your thoughts, tugging your hand to get you to follow him down a familiar path.

“Ciorah’s house isn’t…” you protested in confusion, but Sett’s steps didn’t falter.

“We’ll get there,” he replied. “But first we’re gonna go explain to Inora why you won’t be goin’ on deliveries to that freak anymore.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to protest; after that escalation in creepy behavior, you didn’t want to be anywhere near that guy ever again. You couldn’t help but feel like you were letting Inora down; the creepy guy was the most profitable client in a long time. But there was not a high likelihood that he would be commissioning you in the future after Sett had nearly beat him up. You followed him back home, finding Inora in the workshop finalizing a piece that would go to a sweet older lady who bought works from you for her grandchildren.

“How was–” Inora greeted you before noticing your companion. “Settrigh?”

“She didn’t wanna tell you, but that old creep has been flirtin’ with her,” Sett explained while you awkwardly fiddled with your fingers just behind him.

“What?” Inora gaped. “I knew he had been ordering a lot of pieces, but I never thought…”

Sett nudged you forward, and you figured you should tell her the truth. “Sorry I didn’t tell you… normally he just rambles stories at me and stands too close, but today, he…”

It was too weird for you to say out loud, but Sett didn’t have the same reservations. “The bastard was tryin’ to convince her to model naked for him.”

“He what!?” Inora snarled. “If I could get my claws on him…”

“I was tryin’ to, but she stopped me,” Sett replied, gesturing to you with a jerk of his head.

“Sett!” you scolded him, but Inora barked out a laugh.

“For once, I approve of your violent streak!” she grinned.

You knew they weren’t biologically related, but you couldn’t help but note how familial their bond was. Inora was more outwardly tough than Ciorah, but both women fit so well into Sett’s life.

“Ma’s waitin’ on me to bring her milk,” Sett changed the subject with a sly smirk. “Gonna take her with me so she doesn’t run back to her _boyfriend!_ ”

You gaped at Sett, him and Inora laughing at the disgusted look on your face. “I would never–”

“Relax, princess,” Sett snickered. “I’ll protect ya from him.”

You lost all will to argue, his words flustering you into silence. You couldn’t tell if his tone was flirty or not, but the sudden nickname made you blush. Sett seemed oblivious, but you met eyes with Inora, who smiled knowingly at you, and you quickly looked down at your feet.

“You can take her with you, but you’ve gotta promise me you’ll punch that asshole if you see him again!” Inora joked.

“Can do,” Sett answered affirmatively.

“Don’t be too late!” Inora added, winking at you in a manner that left you no room to doubt what she was really saying. You were relieved that Sett had already turned to the door and had missed her wink altogether.

You still weren’t sure why he was insistent on bringing you along, but it had been a while since you had seen him and you had missed the big brute. You followed Sett out of the front door, waving goodbye to Inora as you emerged back onto the early afternoon streets of Navori.

“…how is the pit?” you asked, wanting to say something but couldn’t think of any interests of his besides his mom and his work in your flustered state.

“’s good,” he answered with a chuckle. “Didn’t think you wanted to hear about the pit.”

What could you even say to that? That you just wanted to talk with him and weren’t sure what else to say?

“I…” you trailed off as you entered the streets that made up the marketplace that led to Ciorah’s home.

“I told you I won’t make ya fight,” Sett laughed. “The pit is a place for degenerates like me, not little mages.”

“You’re not a degenerate,” you refuted softly. “If you hadn’t saved me, I would probably still be with those kidnappers.”

Sett scoffed as you both turned onto the street that Ciorah’s house was on. “With your firepower, they didn’t stand a chance in a fight with you.”

You just stared at him, dumbfounded by his confidence in you. You still weren’t sure how you had beat the Noxian in the pit, but it was a weird feeling to have someone who brawled for a living complimenting you on your combat prowess, however little you felt that you possessed anyways. Maybe you should start having more confidence in yourself; he had certainly given you something to think about. Sett knocked on Ciorah’s door as you stepped onto the landing by his side. You felt a sudden onset of emotion as you reflected further on what a good thing it had been for your life for you to meet Sett.

“Hey… are you cryin’?” Sett said, looking panicked.

Before you could answer, Ciorah opened the door to see you wiping away the small tears that had developed in your eyes. Sett looked infinitely more panicked as his eyes darted from you to his mother, and you watched as her eyes narrowed as she looked at the scene in front of her.

“Settrigh!” she scowled. “What did you say to her?”

Sett’s eyes widened in panic at his mother’s ire, an ear in her grasp before he could think to pull away. You quickly followed them into the house, shutting the door behind you.

“It ain’t like that, ma! She just started cryin’!” Sett protested.

“I raised you to be kind to women, Settrigh,” Ciorah replied sternly.

“He didn’t do anything, I promise!” you corrected Ciorah’s impression the best you could, trying not to laugh as Sett rubbed his sore ear when Ciorah released it upon hearing your words. “I was just thinking about… how nice Sett has been to me and I teared up.”

You were embarrassed to have to be so honest, especially since Sett was now staring at you with a look in his eyes you couldn’t read. Ciorah finally abandoned scolding her son to give you a tight hug, which only served to make you feel more embarrassed. You had never cried this often back in Demacia, but that was hardly unusual for Demacia. There was always a high importance placed on being proper and not embarrassing your family. You had grown up with the notion that it was normal to keep emotions – even happiness – out of the public sphere and away from troubling anyone. Thinking back, you realized that you had never even seen your parents cry. Ever.

The only emotions they displayed often were fear and anger. You knew now that was how they kept Demacians in line. By making them fear mages like you that just wanted to be accepted in their twisted society, by making families turn on their kin because of powers they could not help. Ionia was not free of cruelty, but you would never have the entire island turn against you just for using your powers. All of the people you were close to here openly embraced you, powers and all. You would never go back to Demacia as long as you lived; Navori was your permanent home as far as you were concerned.

Ciorah happily accepted the milk that she had sent her son to buy, insisting that you both stay for dinner. You chopped vegetables with Sett while Ciorah oversaw the stew that was simmering. You were having fun, other than Sett dangling cut onions in your face, which made you tear up yet again, Ciorah smacking his shoulder when he teased you for crying. You hadn’t had so much fun in a long time, just sitting around the table with them and chatting as you ate, which was only made sweeter by the fact that you didn’t have to put up with that creepy customer’s behavior anymore. It definitely felt like too soon when it was time to head back home, and this time Sett offered to walk you home without Ciorah’s prompting.

“I’ll see you again soon,” Ciorah told you warmly, giving you a hug.

You stepped back from her and Sett quickly took your place, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she wrapped her arms as far around his broad back as she could reach.

“Love you, ma,” Sett told her.

“And I love you, Settrigh,” Ciorah replied in kind. “Stay safe.”

“Are you going to the pit now?” you asked him as Ciorah closed the door and you both exited her hearing range.

“No need,” he answered. “I can trust those knuckleheads by themselves for one night.”

“If you say so,” you answered in a singsong tone.

Sett playfully raised an eyebrow. “Ya know the pit ain’t all I ever think about.”

You weren’t sure if you were reading too much into his words, and the glint in his eyes. You were paranoid that you were over-analyzing what wasn’t romantic intentions on his side. But no matter what you did, you couldn’t help but hope that Sett would make a move, because you just didn’t have the confidence.

You decided that it would be worth a try to see if you could fish any more information out of him. “So, what else do you think–”

You would not finish your sentence as your arm was grasped roughly from behind, a hand clamping over your mouth and muffling your surprised cry.

Sett snarled and made to dash over to you, but a long, sharp blade to your neck had him pausing in his tracks, feral anger plain on his face. You still couldn’t see the man who held you captive, as any movement from you had him inch the blade closer to the flesh of your neck, and so you kept painfully still. Your situation fully illuminated on you when men began to trickle out of the shadows, including two ugly faces you remembered in detail, even a month later.

They looked even more rough than the night they had kidnapped you. It seemed like Sett’s lesson hadn’t gotten through to them as they closed in on you alongside a dozen or so men who looked just as intimidating.

“Let her go,” Sett snarled, and the venom in his tone shocked you cold, but unfortunately did not have the same effect on the group of men.

“You won’t protect your bitch this time, half breed,” the taller kidnapper sneered to supportive chuckles and jeers from the rest of the group of men.

“Navori is tired of your iron fist,” the other kidnapper added tauntingly. “So we’re gonna do the pit a favor and make sure you never step foot in it again.”

“You can try!” Sett growled, muscles flexing dangerously.

“Fightin’ fair just ain’t in the cards anymore,” the tall man replied, and before Sett had time to react, one of the men dashed forward and threw a sickly yellow powder in Sett’s face, which had him fall to his knees coughing and breathing heavily before he collapsed on the ground. The hand on your mouth tightened as you screamed and struggled. All your struggles did was draw the attention of the men back to you.

“Poor girl,” one man drawled. “About to watch her boyfriend die.”

Your eyes widened, heart beating overtime as you watched the men begin to crowd around Sett’s unconscious body. What had they thrown on him? Ionia definitely had its own drug trade, but you had no knowledge of what the yellow powder could be. But as you watched the men brandish weapons of all sort, you realized that the drug must have been a means to an end. A knockout drug strong enough to render even the large half-Vastayan unconscious. Sett was defenseless, and showed no signs of waking up despite your mental pleas.

“She’s gonna cry,” one of the men articulated with a cruel laugh.

“With him gone, she’s gonna be real lonely!” another man jeered.

“Not for long,” the tall man sneered. “She’s got a big debt to pay us, so we got first dibs. You all can have what’s left.”

You couldn’t lose Sett. You could barely hear what they were saying around you, eyes locked on the gleaming silver of their weapons as they raised them in unison to strike at the downed man you cared so much for. You didn’t wait a moment, because Sett didn’t have a moment to spare if you were going to save his life. The thugs were gleefully unaware, and even the cry of pain from their buddy that held you captive was too late of a warning to save them from your desperate fury.

Your fire reached an inferno in a split second, and the man who held you captive fell back as every part of him that was in close contact with you broke out in burns so hot that this skin bubbled and peeled right off. His last scream would come too late for his friends as you rushed at them, your hair whipping around your face as you slammed into them with the force of an erupting volcano. Your intense fire melted their flesh as you came close, their cries of agony a chorus you were all too happy to hear.

You knew that your kidnappers had been in the mass of men that stood around Sett, but in your fury, you did not see their faces. You did not watch their expressions as they melted away to nothing; they were dead, and not worth any more of your attention. In seconds, you had wiped out every last one. You stood before the ruined men, chest heaving, as you finally came back to yourself and realized that Sett too had been in the center of your inferno.

Shaking your head to clear yourself of your murderous focus, you dropped to your knees beside Sett, who you immediately realized looked completely fine. He had been in the middle of your fiery wrath, but he had not so much as a burn on him anywhere. The only sign that your powers had affected him at all was the slightest beads of sweat on his forehead. How could he be okay? Your fire never hurt you, but this was all-new territory for you.

“Sett!” you cried, placing your hands on either side of his face, tears dripping down your face and onto his jacket. “Sett, please –”

“’s warm.”

His whisper was almost too quiet for you to hear, but his eyes opening ever so slowly confirmed that you hadn’t been hearing things. Sett slowly sat up, rolling his shoulders. He grunted at the impact as you buried your face in his chest, and he slowly sat back up, placing a hand on your back.

“…should go,” he muttered, and you pulled back to look at his face. He clumsily pushed some hair out of your face as you noticed his pupils looked dilated. “We should… we should go,” he slurred.

“Are you… drunk?” you ventured a guess, and he smirked lazily, leaning in to nibble on your neck, which sent a blush to your face and a shiver down your back.

“Nah,” he answered, and you didn’t believe him for a second.

“Can you stand?” you asked him, and he only answered when you backed away from him until he couldn’t kiss at your neck anymore.

He scoffed, lifting himself up a little too fast, his drugged state putting him off balance. You quickly got up as well, grabbing hold of him before he fell over and slinging his arm over your shoulder. Ciorah’s home was close, but you knew that Sett wouldn’t want her to see him in this state.

“Sett, where do you live?” you asked, hoping he would have the mental facilities to properly answer you.

He stared at you intensely for a few seconds before sighing and beginning to walk, forcing you to keep up with him so neither of you would fall over. You were thankful that he just led you silently; you weren’t sure if you could take any more of his drunken flirting. You let him lead you, surprised when you bypassed the wealthy district entirely; you had just assumed that with all the money he made, Sett would live in the most expensive part of town.

The neighborhood Sett finally led you to was one you hadn’t seen before. It was very quiet, only a few people walking around, none of which even bat an eye at you supporting the large pit boss as you walked by. You wondered what kind of a place this was for the sight of the two of you to not be out of the ordinary.

Sett led you up a stony walkway to a very modest home, and you let him off of your shoulder at last so he could lean on the wall and fish his keys out of his pants’ pocket. When he finally managed to retrieve the small silver key, you took it from him. If the walk here was any indication, his coordination was not the best right now. You unlocked the door with ease, and Sett sauntered in, you quickly following behind him and locking the door.

You had clearly underestimated Sett’s recovery time, because as soon as you turned around after hearing the click of the lock, Sett caged you against the door with his body. You stared wide-eyed at the predatory smirk on his face, giving you nowhere to run. You couldn’t tell if this was his true feelings spilling out or if it was the drug. You knew which one you hoped it was, but you couldn’t take advantage of him in this state, not when he could do something he would regret if he weren’t under the influence of the weird powder.

“Sett, you should rest…” you protested, pressing your shaky palms on his chest, ready to push him away if you needed to.

“Nah,” he purred with a grin. “I think I’m good right here.”

“But I don’t know what they gave you, it could be–”

“Stop talkin',” he grunted, and it was all the warning you got before he crushed his lips into yours.

You gasped in surprise, and he didn’t waste the opportunity, sticking his tongue in your mouth and playing with your own. Your fingers gripped at the fur of his long jacket, breaking away from the kiss with a moan when his hands moved down to your hips, pulling your lower body closer to his, a rapidly hardening part of his anatomy brushing obviously against you with the motion. Sett chased your lips, kissing you breathless several times over as you tried desperately to keep up with the rough pace he had set.

You still couldn’t believe this was happening, but you were starting to feel more comfortable kissing him. You wanted him to be as wrecked as you were, and so you did the only thing you could think of that might fluster him and grabbed one of his ears, rubbing it between your fingers. Sett didn’t stop kissing you, but groaned against your mouth. A few more seconds of you repeating the motion had him finally break away from your mouth, and you stared at his beautiful golden eyes as he opened them at last. You were breathing heavily as you watched his gaze trail down your body. You realized that you had once again singed your clothing with your earlier outburst, your top a lot more low-cut than it had been when you had left Ciorah’s home, the singed edges of the fabric hovering at the tops of your breasts.

“Hold on!” Sett grinned.

You stared at him, confused by the mischief in his eyes. Sett wasted no time, his strong arms going around your back and under your thighs as he lifted you into a princess carry. You squeaked in surprise, holding your hands at your chest, unsure of what to do with them.

“Doubt I’ll get tired of this,” Sett remarked, turning around and heading down the hallway. “Last chance to back out, princess.”

He was really testing your newfound commitment to honesty. Your face burned with embarrassment and shame, so you buried your face in his chest as you murmured your answer. “…I don’t want to back out.”

Sett laughed, the vibrations from his chest against your ear as he pushed open a door with his shoulder. You brought your head back up to look upon a rather modest bedroom. The room was dim with the day’s waning light coming through the window, illuminating the large bed that sat in the center of the room. You weren’t given a further chance to examine his bedroom as you were laid on the bed, staring at Sett as he stood just to the side.

“Hope you’re ready, baby,” Sett purred, unlatching his gauntlets and letting them drop to the floor as he shucked his shoes off. “I don’t do anythin’ half-assed.”

You sat up on the bed, figuring you probably shouldn’t be wearing shoes in his nice bed, reaching down and gently removing them and setting them on the floor as Sett removed his jacket. Sett rolled his shoulders back as he stared down at you, unashamed by his own partial nudity as usual.

You had no time to feel self-conscious as Sett was on you again, hand fisting through your hair to angle your mouth against his better. You kissed him back with everything you had, but his efforts overwhelmed you and it was all you could do to grasp at his neck and thread your tongue with his. You wrapped a leg around his hip, and he happily ground his pelvis into yours. You cried out as the bulge there hit against you in just the right spot to send a spark through your body. Sett pulled back, golden eyes dark as he combed a hand through his hair.

“I want you bad, princess,” he growled.

“Sett, I–” you tried to answer him, but then his thick fingers were slipping beneath the skirt you wore and past your underwear to rub at a spot that had you squirming and moaning as Sett stared down at you proudly.

“Betcha never had this in Demacia,” Sett growled as his fingers moved from your clit to push a finger inside you. “At least those jackasses did something right when they drove you to Navori.”

You couldn’t reply, could only moan his name and weakly grip at his arm as he pushed another finger inside you, the pad of his thumb brushing against your clit as he continued fingering you.

“Sett, please–”

“Can’t wait any longer, baby?” he taunted, and you glared at him to the best of your lust-addled ability.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I can’t deny ya anythin’ when you look at me like that.”

Sett rolled over so that he sat at the edge of the bed, licking his wet fingers clean while staring at you haughtily. Standing up from the bed, he peeled his tight pants off of his legs, and you were flustered anew to discover that he hadn’t been wearing any underwear. You couldn’t help but stare at his cock, which looked rock hard as it jutted out proudly from his pelvis.

Sett easily caught you staring, his eyes raking over your still-clothed body. “You need some help?”

You felt overcome with a burst of shyness at what was about to happen. Sett climbed back onto the bed, and you blushed as his cock brushed against your hip. Sett noticed how stiff you were, leaning in to give you short, soft kisses until he felt you visibly relax.

“C’mon,” he prompted. “’s only fair I get you naked too. Been thinkin’ about this since ya melted those thugs.”

“What?” you replied.

“Came to as you torched ‘em,” Sett answered, nuzzling against your neck, mouth at your ear as his hand crept to the bottom of your shirt. “You have no clue how hot you look when you fight.”

Sett’s fingers gripped the hem of your shirt, and you lifted your arms to help him take it off of you. Your shirt was made of thicker material than you usually wore, so you hadn’t worn a bra underneath. Sett was very appreciative of that fact, palming your breasts with his large hands as he looked down at you with the hunger of a predator.

You were so worked up that you couldn’t wait any longer. You wiggled your hips, trying to shuffle your skirt down because Sett was so close that you couldn’t fit a hand between your lower bodies. Sett took pity on you, taking his hands off of your tits to help you shimmy your skirt and panties down and off. Your underwear was feeling a little too damp, so it was a relief to have them off at last.

“No shame if ya need to claw my back up,” Sett teased as he lined himself up with you. “I know I’m a lot to take.”

You frowned at him; there was no limit to his self-confidence, was there? Your irritation only seemed to further bolster him as he grinned happily. You couldn’t even stay mad at him; he was such an overgrown puppy. You hated that all of his quirks just made you more infatuated with him. You would have to rub his ears again and take him down a peg.

But Sett would make the first move, as always. He grasped his cock, holding your gaze as he began to ease himself into you. You closed your eyes, nails digging into your palms as you adjusted to the feeling. He went slow, inching in further and further until your hips met, his legs on either side of yours.

You felt so full, and for all of his grandstanding, Sett wasn’t doing much better. He let out a low groan, moving his hands to either side of your face to keep himself from crushing you with his well-muscled body.

No more words were exchanged as Sett began to move his hips, dropping his lips from yours to nibble at your neck, his hair tickling your cheek. The position brought his furry ears closer to you, and the temptation proved too much and you reached up and pulled on his ears, and Sett’s hips snapped up to yours harder in surprise, the resulting feeling making you moan.

“Should’ve known you’d go for the ears again,” Sett growled.

“They’re so cute,” you replied, barely able to get the words out when Sett moved back to grab onto your thighs and encourage you to wrap them around his hips. He pushed back in, and it was all you could do to grip at his biceps as he got even more brutal with his pace, leaning down to kiss and bite at your breasts, the sensations only heightening the pleasure you felt.

You shut your eyes tightly as you felt your pleasure climb higher and higher, your unintentional clamping of vaginal muscles earning you a groan from Sett as he reached a hand down to rub at your clit as he chased his own end.

“Sett,” you moaned, opening your eyes to pull his face to yours so you could kiss him again.

You could only hold out a moment longer, the kiss getting slower as you reached your peak, your legs tightening around Sett’s waist and walls clamping down on his cock. Sett growled against your lips, slamming down into you a few more times before he stilled, parting from your lips to rest his forehead on yours, grinning like the cat that got the cream.

“I’d say that went pretty well,” Sett declared.

As the haze wore off, you began to wonder exactly what this meant to Sett. You had no knowledge at all of his romantic history, and so you didn’t know what to think.

You tried to sound confident, but your voice came out as a weak whisper. “Sett… what are we?”

He didn’t reply, but leaned down to kiss you. You frowned, dodging so that his lips landed on your cheek. If this was just a fling, he needed to tell you now. You wouldn’t let him avoid the question.

Sett’s eyes opened when he realized that you had moved your face. You gave him a hard look, and he returned it with a toothy grin and a laugh. You felt your heart drop; was he going to laugh at you for wanting more? Was this the last content moment that you would have with him before it all came crashing down?

“Don’t know why you’re even askin’,” Sett said, and you just stared at him, too scared to even breathe. “Ma likes ya… _I_ like ya. You ain’t gettin’ away from me that easy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The much-requested follow-up chapter is here! Some info for my league fics:  
> -The next league champ I write for will be Zed, and it will be set in the canon of his comic (which is great, but I'm going to try to write in a way that gives people necessary info without having to read the comic)  
> -Another champ I'm considering is Yone, but I haven't looked into him enough to have any overly-concrete ideas as of right now
> 
> And some info for the follow-up chapter:  
> -This follow-up chapter is set the morning after the last one ended!  
> -So in my personal canon for Sett, I feel like since he's so stunted romantically and never had a young love or anything because of how ostracized he was, when he gets a girlfriend, he'd go all in with the flirting, so just be warned that I went about 500x with the flirting this chapter xD  
> -Also I wanted to make this chapter more about character interaction than straight action, so this is more of a chill follow-up chapter

Sett was such a handful. It had taken you at least an hour to convince him that he should let you out of bed, and that was only after you obliged his newfound wandering hands for a while.

“I have to help Inora,” you protested, placing your hands against his mouth to keep his lips from touching yours. “We have a bunch of orders that need to be finished. And don’t you have to be at the pit today?”

Sett groaned, pulling back from you at last, stretching his arms behind his head and looking like a petulant child. “You sure know how to kill a mood, princess.”

“If you get on Inora’s bad side, she might make you let me pet your ears again!” you teased, recalling Sett’s flushed cheeks from the last time that had happened.

Sett had gotten out of bed and zipped up his pants by this point, but turned back to you with an amused grin. “If that’s all you wanted, you just have to ask.”

His flirting caught you off guard, and you blushed brightly, diving back under the blanket in embarrassment, a bark of laughter from Sett accompanying your movements. When you finally came up for air, Sett was fully dressed, which made you more aware of just how naked you still were in comparison. While Sett had no problem dressing in front of you, you felt shy at the thought of doing the same thing yourself, even with everything you had done with him last night and this morning.

Sett smiled at you, a smile that looked a little too mischievous for your liking. He crossed the room, opening the door before stopping in his tracks. “I’ll get some food. If you’re still naked by the time I get back, then ya can’t complain about what I do to you.”

Your face burned, the door closing behind Sett and leaving you alone with your thoughts. It was almost laughable how different he was to when you had first met him. You had known him for only a few months, but he was already irreplaceable to you. Sett’s advances towards you last night had been sudden, but not unwelcome. You had harbored feelings for the half-Vastayan for some time and thought you had a general understanding of what he was like, but it was like he had let go of all reservations the moment that he kissed you. He had been flirting heavily ever since you both woke up, and you weren’t sure how much more you could take without spontaneously combusting.

You slipped out of the covers, shivering at the sudden lack of warmth. It wasn’t often that you felt cold anymore, but the lack of clothing wasn’t helping. You had to get up; you had too much work to do today to let Sett make good on his recent promise. You winced as you picked up your somewhat-burned clothing, reluctantly putting it back on and trying to adjust your shirt in a way that was at least somewhat covering your chest. You would probably look like you had escaped a burning building, which in a way wasn’t too far off the mark. Except in this case, you _were_ the burning building.

Sett re-entered the room as you were sitting on the bed and fiddling with the hem of your charred skirt. You looked up at the sound of the door opening, meeting eyes with Sett just in time to catch the apple he tossed your way, the fruit sailing smoothly into your hands.

“I’ll walk ya to Inora’s,” he said, biting into his own apple.

“Okay,” you replied, not-so-secretly happy that you would get a little more time with him before you had to part ways for the day.

Apples quickly eaten, you followed Sett out of his front door, desperately trying not to think about how you had been pinned against that door the night before. You weren’t sure when you would adjust to this new change in your life, but for now you were just grateful that Sett was walking ahead of you so he couldn’t see how red your face must be right now.

You quickly ran out of luck as he slowed his pace so you could walk side by side. You took a deep breath before looking over at him, and were surprised to see contentment clear on his face. As soon as he noticed you looking at him, he reached down to take your hand in his, pulling on it to bring you closer to his side.

“Can’t have ya runnin’ off to get painted naked,” he said with a grin.

You grimaced with disgust at the thought of that creepy guy, and Sett laughed at your plight.

“If he gives ya any more trouble, let me know and I’ll make a house call,” he added.

“You scared him enough yesterday!” you replied. “I doubt he’ll ever commission anything from us again.”

“Good,” Sett said, sounding every bit of the pleased troublemaker that he was. You were only a little bit bitter that his grinning face was too cute to stay mad at.

The walk back to Inora’s house was pleasant; having Sett’s hand in yours was new, but you found yourself adjusting quickly. You did not fail to notice that he had left his usual studded glove off of the hand that held yours, assumedly in an effort to not poke your hand with the metal bits attached to his gloves.

Walking around in the daytime was much nicer than at night; all of the times that you had been attacked at night really put a damper on the midnight stroll experience for you. And there was a distinct lack of thugs out when it wasn’t dark outside, minus the one currently beside you. But he had been on his best behavior, other than all the flirting and the one hopefully-idle threat to go maim the creepy old guy.

You were enjoying the walk so much that you only realized you had reached your destination when Sett stopped walking. You looked over to see the familiar sight of Inora’s home, looking exactly the same as it had the previous day. You weren’t sure what you were expecting; despite all of the things that had happened between yesterday and today, it had still only been a day.

You pulled away from Sett, about to remove your hand from his grip so you could head inside and reassure Inora that you were okay after not coming home last night, but were stopped by Sett’s grip on your hand tightening as he used your connected hands to pull you right back to him, your back pressed against his chest.

He leaned down, his lips at your ear. “You’re not runnin’ away from me, are ya?”

His breath at your ear combined with his sultry tone had you freezing in your tracks. He let out an amused snort, turning you around so suddenly that you had to brace your hands on his bare chest for support. He was staring down at your like he was expecting something from you, but in your surprise, you couldn’t figure out what he wanted.

Sett shook his head with a smile. “You were really plannin’ on leavin’ me without even a goodbye?”

“Oh.” So that’s what he was after. You smiled up at him. “Have a good day at the pit!”

He stared down at you impassively, face blank, his hands slowly drifting to your waist.

“Ain’t good enough,” he said bluntly, lips twitching upwards at your confused frown.

Sett leaned even further into your personal space, tilting your chin up with a finger so he could kiss you. You hadn’t seen anyone out and about in the neighborhood, so you didn’t mind indulging him, closing your eyes and shyly meeting his tongue with your own when he initiated a deeper kiss. He really was a force of nature, and you didn’t notice his hand on your side creeping back until his hand was on your ass and squeezing.

You gasped against his mouth, but before you could do anything, you were startled by an amused voice speaking up.

“A little early in the day for that, Settrigh.”

Hearing Inora’s voice sent a shockwave through you, your eyes snapping open and hands coming up to push Sett off of you. He let you push him back, but his hand remained on your ass until you grabbed it and moved it off before turning to face Inora.

“I… I…” You weren’t sure what to say, but Sett didn’t have the same problem.

“Mornin’, Aunt Inora,” he greeted, not even a little bit phased by Inora catching the two of you in such a compromising position.

Inora raised an eyebrow, but looked more amused than angry, her arms crossed over her chest. “I figured she was with you last night. Though clearly you’re dangerous in your own right as well.”

Sett grinned in response and Inora shook her head. “You better take good care of her, Settrigh. She’s like a daughter to me.”

Sett readily agreed, while you were a mess of embarrassed by the situation and happy to hear that Inora considered you to be like a daughter to her.

Inora sent a kind smile your way before turning a stern look over your head at Sett. “Shoo! Don’t you have some hoodlums to go oversee instead of groping my apprentice on a public street?”

Sett knew better than to argue with Inora, but also wasn’t willing to leave you without a proper goodbye. You squeaked with surprise as you were suddenly hoisted up in a princess carry, Sett’s lips on yours before you could fully grasp what was going on. You could only grab at the edge of his coat to keep yourself from tumbling out of his arms in shock. The kiss this time was short and sweet, more Sett being dramatic than anything. After a few seconds, you were put back down on your feet, Sett looking like the cat that got the cream.

“See ya later, princess,” he said with a grin before making his exit and leaving you standing there, still stunned by his boldness.

Inora approached you, spurning you to snap out of it and meet her halfway.

“That boy sure likes to show off,” she said with a laugh.

“You’re not… surprised?” you asked, eyes flitting briefly in the direction Sett had left in.

“Surprised that Settrigh finally made a move?” she asked rhetorically with a scoff. “Not when you’ve known him as long as I have.”

You were still a little dumbfounded as Inora reached over to put an arm around your shoulders and walk you over to the front door of the house. She opened the door, ushering you inside and closing it behind the two of you before turning to you with her hands on her hips.

“Now clearly something else happened, because I doubt your clothes got all scorched for nothing,” she said with a raised brow.

You looked down at yourself, weeping internally for your ruined clothes. You really needed to invest in some fireproof clothing if fights with ruffians were going to become a regular occurrence for you. You didn’t have enough clothing to keep having to throw it away. You sighed; you had really liked the outfit you had on before it had been singed beyond repair.

Inora let you have some time to wash and redress yourself before sitting down to talk over some tea. You felt much better being out of your burned clothes, and Inora’s relaxed posture gave you the confidence that you needed to tell her the story of what happened to you the night before, minus the more lascivious details from the end of the night. As you talked, Inora got more and more furious as you detailed your encounter with the thugs.

“I can’t say they didn’t deserve to be burnt to a crisp!” she said angrily. “Clearly they didn’t have the sense to pick a fight with someone more on their own level.”

You sighed. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

Inora grinned as she drank the last of her tea. “Settrigh is just lucky you were there with him. Some help he was.”

You weren’t sure what to say, and Inora laughed. “I’m glad that he has you now. He needs a positive influence that he’ll actually listen to!”

“ _Him_ , listen to _me_?” you echoed. His performance outside the house earlier had demonstrated none of what she was saying, so you were a little dubious of her assertion that you had any sway over his actions.

She understood where your thoughts were at the moment and laughed. “Earlier? He likes to show off too much. And you would be his first girlfriend, the poor thing. It’s a miracle he didn’t slobber all over you.”

“Inora!” You were embarrassed by her frank comment on Sett’s kissing skills, but your mind caught on more than just her teasing. “He’s really never…?”

“Not that I know of,” she answered. “If he was seeing someone, I would know. As you could probably guess, that boy is as subtle as a Noxian war banner.”

Alas, you hadn’t been kidding about the amount of work you had to do that day. You resolved to ask Inora about more stories from Sett’s childhood another time when there were less glassworks to be made.

You were relieved to hear that the creepy collector hadn’t come by to complain or make any further requests. Not that Inora would have accepted any further commissions from him; you were lucky that fire couldn’t hurt you when you dropped a burning torch on your foot when Inora decided to start describing the rather creative things she would do to the man if he ever came near you again. By the end of her rant, you were glad that you had never gotten on her bad side; you certainly hadn’t been prepared for the sheer creativity of her imagined punishments.

You were very tired by the end of the day, both you and Inora having foregone a break so you could get all requested pieces done on time. The two of you collapsed at the table, eating a significantly more simple meal than usual that consisted of leftover soup and some crackers Ciorah had given Inora as a gift. You were struggling to stay awake long enough to eat your dinner when you noticed Inora staring at you with a grin on her face that told you she was clearly up to something.

“I have an idea!” she announced excitedly.

“Yes…?” you replied, hoping for more of an explanation about what she meant.

“An idea of how to help Settrigh have a taste of what he’s missed out on!” she said.

She laughed at your confused look and continued. “It is not uncommon for working people to have food brought to them by their lovers, and Settrigh would certainly enjoy a surprise visit from you.”

“You think I should surprise him at the pit?” you replied incredulously. “But the last time I was there–”

“You’ll be safe if you go in the daytime,” she insisted. “Those ruffians really like to sleep in, so I doubt any of them will be awake to bother you. Not like they could win a fight with you anyways.”

“But I’m not sure what food he likes…” you said.

Inora smiled. “Ciorah would know best. You should go see her tomorrow morning and get her help. She’ll be happy to help out.”

You took a second to think about her idea. You kind of liked the idea of surprising him, and it had begun to overpower and nervousness that you felt about returning to the pits. You kept thinking about Sett’s reaction to you showing up, and the excitement you felt was enough for you to agree to Inora’s idea. You didn’t do much cooking, so you were relieved to have Ciorah to ask for help because you didn’t think Sett would let you live it down if you gave him food poisoning.

“Are you sure you’re okay to do today’s deliveries by yourself?” you asked Inora for the third time that morning as she was trying to shoo you out the front door.

“Are you calling me old?” she replied jokingly. “Now go before I change my mind and put you to work!”

“Fine,” you relented at last, allowing Inora to herd you out the front door.

“Don’t have too much fun!” she teased, her eyes glowing with mirth.

“I won’t,” you replied with a laugh, heading off at last.

The walk to Ciorah’s house felt quicker than usual, perhaps because you had your excitement to fuel you. And more than anything, you were just happy to spend some time with Sett. It still felt weird to you to be this happy compared to your old life in Demacia where everything and everyone strived to be the model of seriousness. It was a wonder that happiness itself wasn’t formally banned there.

Ciorah came to the door almost immediately after your knock, her delicate face beaming with joy at your surprise arrival. She quickly invited you in, a lone teacup on her table telling you that she had been in the middle of her morning tea.

“It is good to see you,” she said happily, pouring you some tea as well.

You felt a little silly being nervous to ask her this favor, but you cleared your throat and went for it. “Um, I was wondering if you would mind helping me make some food to take to Sett at his work?”

“Of course!” she replied instantly, clasping her hands together, and you felt silly that you had worried about asking her for help on the way to her home.

You followed her into the kitchen as she began to look through her cabinets thoughtfully, pulling various items out and placing them on the counter.

“I have not made Settrigh a packed lunch in a long time,” she said. “He has been independent for so long now that it feels like I do not get to be a mother much anymore.”

She began to spread out the supplies, which included a head of cabbage. “I used to make cabbage rolls as a special treat when Settrigh was sick or feeling upset.”

“They sound delicious!” you replied warmly.

Ciorah’s smile looked sad as she peeled a leaf from the cabbage. “I fear he ate them too often when he was younger because of my choices. If I had been more careful with who I loved, maybe he could have had a happier childhood.”

“Ciorah…” You didn’t know what to say to her sad admission.

“I have always regretted not giving Settrigh a loving father. He deserves better than to have to work so hard to provide for his pitiful mother…” she trailed off, tears in her eyes.

“You’re not pitiful!” you said sternly. “And you’re not to blame for what happened. The only one who is pitiful here is his father.”

Ciorah spoke your name softly, and you calmed down enough to realize you had insulted her husband to her face and hastily apologized.

Ciorah wiped her tears with her sleeve, shaking her head. “There is no need for you to apologize. You have not said anything about his father that I have not thought myself. Sometimes I just wish I could have done more to help Settrigh.”

“He loves you,” you insisted. “He’s happy that he can take care of you. I know he would be sad if he heard you say you weren’t a good enough mom.”

“I am glad he has you,” she said as she began to wrap the cabbage around the ball of filling. “I suppose this is all practice for when you really become my daughter.”

“Ciorah?” You dropped the cabbage roll you were working on in shock at her words.

Ciorah looked confused. “You and Settrigh are a couple now, are you not?”

“How… how did you…?” you stuttered.

She giggled as she reached down to fix the cabbage roll you had dropped, easily patting it back into the proper shape. “Just a feeling that I have been having as of late.”

“Oh.” You felt a bit embarrassed that she already knew, but not upset. You were relieved that she was fine with you seeing her son, since you knew her approval meant a lot to both you and Sett.

She placed the roll she was working on down on the tray before turning to you and bending down in a low bow. “Please take care of my precious son. I wish you both happiness.”

“Ciorah, what–”

She raised her head, smiling softly, her lilac hair flowing over one shoulder. “Sorry to startle you. It is an old Vastayan custom from my tribe to show gratitude to your child’s partner.”

“There’s no need,” you replied with a laugh. “If anything, I have infinitely more gratitude for you. I would be on the streets or worse if you didn’t save my life when you took me in. Your tribe made a mistake when they exiled one of the kindest women I’ve ever met.”

Ciorah looked down bashfully. “After all this time, I think that it may be for the best that I was cast out from my tribe. As much as you needed help, you have returned to the lives of me and my son. It is now Settrigh and I that are better for having you in our lives.”

The cabbage rolls were all but forgotten for the moment as Ciorah hugged you gently, stroking your hair in a way that only a mother could. You knew that you could easily live a thousand years without hearing those words from your own parents, and yet Ciorah spoke them easily and genuinely. You doubted you could have found better people to surround yourself with if you had searched the entirety of Runeterra.

Eventually the tender moment mellowed out and you were able to complete the cabbage rolls, and now you were sat at Ciorah’s kitchen table while she gently packaged the food before placing it into a hand-woven bag.

“I am sure Settrigh will be delighted to have food brought to him by you,” she said as she placed the bag on the table in front of you. “You will have to tell me how he reacts to the surprise.”

“I will!” you promised.

“You should go,” Ciorah said. “I am sure you would rather see him than hear more sad stories from an old Vastayan like myself.”

Before you could insist that you liked hearing her stories, the small woman had pulled you with her to her front door in a way that reminded you heavily of when you had left Inora’s home earlier that morning. Why were they both getting so worked up about you bringing Sett lunch?

“Ah, young love…” Ciorah said dreamily. “It has been a long time since I was your age.”

You knew she meant well, but you weren’t sure how much more embarrassment you could take at the hands of the two women today. When she would not take no for an answer, you finally acquiesced and bid Ciorah farewell to head off to the pit.

You were relieved that it was a cool day out, because you really needed it for your flaming cheeks, still glowing with embarrassment from Ciorah’s teasing. The streets were not too busy, largely populated by children playing and a few people milling about the stalls of the marketplace looking at the various goods that were for sale.

The chatter of the early afternoon crowds was a welcome difference from Ionian nightlife. Even now, you stuck to main roads only. Although those men could not come after you now, you would not give anyone else the chance to hurt you again, not now that Sett had enlightened you to the true strength that you possessed. But you were determined to not give them the opportunity to try, making sure to give a wide berth to the few obviously sketchy characters you noticed hanging about on your walk to the pit.

Shifting the packaged lunch to one hand, you approached the doors at last. They were much taller than you were, which made sense, as pretty much all the people who walked through them cut a more imposing figure than you did.

You raised a closed fist, rapping it against the door a few times, the sound louder than you thought it would be. You stood very still, listening intently for any sounds of someone approaching from inside. When you heard nothing, you tried the door again, furrowing your brow. This may be a more difficult operation than you had initially assumed…

Sett could not have been more obvious if he had been trying. Ryo had noticed immediately, which wasn’t unexpected as he had known the boss a long time, but even the dumbest of the pit staff had picked up on Sett’s suddenly uplifted mood during the previous night’s matches. Nobody said anything to the large man out of fear of souring his pleasant mood, but Ryo silently smiled with anticipation for the next day during the profit counting.

Ryo strolled leisurely into the building at mid-morning, knowing Sett would likely already be there. Counting the night’s earnings was a particular point of pride for Sett, especially when he set aside the portion that was to go to his mother.

But Ryo was still curious about his friend’s mood the previous night, and there was no time better than the present to test out his theory of a mystery girl in Sett’s life. With that thought in mind, Ryo pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

“You’re late,” Sett’s gruff voice rang out playfully from behind a pile of coins he had been counting.

“Not all of us have someone to wake up to in the morning,” Ryo replied, testing the waters.

“Tryin’ to pick a fight with me this early in the mornin’?” Sett growled, but Ryo knew there was no true bite behind the boss’ words.

“If it isn’t a girl, then what?” Ryo replied, sitting down to begin counting coins alongside Sett. “You were downright _pleasant_ yesterday. Nobody pissed themselves with fear just by looking at you, has to be a new record.”

Sett scoffed. “Guess I gotta hire men that know how to mind their own business.”

Ryo ignored the jab. “What’s the harm in bringing her by for a visit? You afraid one of us will steal her from you?”

Ryo didn’t usually push Sett’s buttons this hard, but it was the only way he could think of to get his friend to open up. Asking nicely had never been a great approach with the hardy half-Vastayan. And judging by how Sett’s nostrils flared and his eyes darkened, he knew that Ryo was egging him on. Ryo only hoped that he had pissed Sett off enough for him to disclose some information.

Sett exhaled through his nose. “She don’t need to be paraded around the likes of this place.”

So there _was_ a girl. Ryo didn’t let any of the victory he was feeling internally show on his face. The admission of your existence from Sett was all Ryo was willing to risk pushing for. He knew that Sett had an image to maintain, so he would allow his friend a break from the questions.

Ryo stood up from his seat. “Looks like we’re a few coin bags short. Be right back.”

Sett waved a hand in dismissal, and Ryo took that as his cue to leave. Closing the door behind him, Ryo made his way to the storage room, grabbing a handful of cloth bags. Finding the usual box less full than usual, he made a mental note to have more commissioned.

Ryo took some extra time to survey their other supplies, noting some other supplies that were running low. Tempers tended to run hot in the pit, and he was used to paying attention to the small things to prevent as many incidents as possible. Sett had no problems shutting arguments down himself, but if resolution of all conflicts was left up to the boss, they would certainly be down quite a few employees.

Bags in hand, Ryo finally left the room. The fighters tended to get antsy if they didn’t have their money in their hands as soon as they left the ring, which made pre-bagging booking fees all the more important. Who knew that bloodthirsty meatheads had hair-trigger tempers? Shocking.

He was about to turn down the hallway that led back to the office when he heard a faint noise coming from the front of the building. Turning on his heel, he walked towards the main hall, and it became obvious that the noises he was hearing were coming from the currently-locked front door.

Ryo sighed; unexpected visitors to the pit never tended to be anything good. Unexpected guests usually fell into one of a few categories; sore losers coming to complain about their lost bets, angry fighters arguing about not being rebooked, and the occasional women trying to get a one-on-one meeting with Sett. Ryo had some fighting capabilities; he would have to in order to work in the pit, but he wasn’t looking forward to potentially dealing with the heavily-muscled woman from last week if she had decided to stop by again to insist that the boss wouldn’t be able to resist her if Ryo would just let her in to see him.

It was with dread that he approached the door just as the knocking stopped. Bracing himself for a confrontation, Ryo began to unlatch the many locks that kept the door closed to the outside. Once the door had been fully unlocked, Ryo opened it slowly to give himself time to assess the situation. His brows raised lightly in surprise as the door opened to reveal a face he wasn’t expecting, a face he found was familiar to him.

You were about to give up and turn back when the door began to creak open. You felt a jolt of anticipation shoot up your spine, and your mind flitted around; should you shout surprise, or just say hello like this was normal? You couldn’t make up your mind, and it seemed you wouldn’t have to, as the door opened to reveal not Sett, but another man.

The slender man in the doorway had black hair pulled back in a ponytail, his clothes simple but flashy, vest and sleeves trimmed with silver. He held what looked like pouches in his arms, and as you looked up from them to his face, you realized that you had seen him before. He had been the one to separate you from your kidnappers that night at the pit, and the realization left you speechless, whatever you wanted to say disappearing from your mind entirely.

The man’s cautious look morphed into a friendly smile as he opened the door fully, stepping aside to allow you in. When you hesitated, unsure of what to do, he chuckled, a knowing look in his eye that you weren’t able to decipher.

“You’re here to see the boss, aren’t you?” he asked. “Can’t say I expected this, but he doesn’t have bad taste.”

You weren’t following what he was talking about, but you had a feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. You didn’t want to push him on the subject and chance missing out on seeing Sett, so you simply nodded, following him inside the building.

You watched as he locked several very complicated-looking locks, bolting the door firmly shut. What had you just walked into? This man had helped you before, but what if he was just like the crooked security guard, or the man who had let those creeps enter you into the fight?

Before you had a further chance to assess him, he turned around with a smile, offering you his hand. “Nice to meet you, miss. My name is Ryo.”

He looked friendly enough, you reasoned, as you took his hand, giving him your name in return. If he got _unfriendly_ , you had your powers to rely on. That and Sett had assured you that everyone who had conspired in your ordeal had been swiftly shown the door.

He nodded once, releasing your hand and beginning to head down the hallway. You followed behind him, still unsure of what to make of the situation, but you were at least inside the building now.

“You’re looking well,” he spoke up as if he was talking to an old friend. “I apologize that your previous experience with the pit was so… reprehensible.”

“It’s okay.” You weren’t really sure what else to say as you looked around the hallway as you walked with him. Last time you were here, it had been under duress, so you didn’t really have a chance to look around.

The area was more pristine than you would have thought a fighting pit would be. Banners boldly decorated the walls and the stone floors were remarkably clean, but most notable to you was the silence. It was a little eerie to you just how quiet it was, a big difference to the raucous atmosphere the pits had on fight nights. Silence just didn’t fit a place like this.

“I s’pose I should thank you,” Ryo said as he stopped suddenly.

“For what?” you asked, stopping beside him.

“He’s been happier lately,” Ryo answered sincerely. “I assume that’s thanks to you.”

You felt something click into place in your mind as embarrassment flooded your face. “Did he–”

“…tell me about you?” Ryo finished before shaking his head with a chuckle. “Not quite. He’s just a little too obvious for his own good.”

“Oh.” Inora had said the exact same thing earlier, you realized.

His carefree smile turned conspiratorial, his voice dropping to a whisper as he leaned closer to you. “Can I ask you to do something for me?”

You stared at him with wide eyes, but something about the playfulness in his own eyes made you feel inclined to agree to his request.

“Alright…” you said warily, hoping you hadn’t just agreed to something dangerous.

“I only need you to trust me,” he said with a grin. “I just want to give that guy a surprise.”

That still didn’t sound like an explanation to you, but your curiosity kept you silent as Ryo raised a finger to his lips, leading you further down the hallway. As you were about to reach a door at the end of the hall, he held his arm out in front of you, stopping you in your tracks.

“Just stay right there,” he whispered, approaching the door as you stayed just out of view, still not sure what he was planning to do.

You watched as he approached the door, pulling it open partway, but not enough for anyone inside to be able to see you. Knowing Sett was in there made you feel a little giddy about surprising him; there was no way he could possibly expect you to come here to see him. You clutched the handmade food to your chest, heart beating loudly in your ears as you waited in anticipation.

“Boss, I found an intruder,” Ryo said, shocking you cold with the serious tone his voice had taken on. You would have really been concerned if he hadn’t quickly turned back to you with a wink before facing forward again.

“An intruder?” Sett’s voice echoed from inside the room. “And you’re bringin’ ‘em to me?”

“Thought you’d want to deal with it personally,” Ryo said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

Sett sighed. “Bring ‘em in.”

“If you say so,” Ryo replied, sounding all too pleased with himself as he stepped back from the door, motioning you forward.

Now that the attention was all on you, you froze. What if he was annoyed? What if he thought you were wasting his time coming here?

“Well?” Ryo prompted gently. “Go on in.”

It was clearly too late to run away now. You knew you were just standing there like an idiot, but you couldn’t make your feet move. You were taking too long to do something, and clearly Sett had gotten impatient as you were startled by the sound of sudden footsteps heading towards your direction.

“Whimperin’ in his boots?” Sett’s voice was getting closer. “I ain’t real fond of my time bein’ wasted–”

The second his figure fully emerged from the room and he spotted you, he stopped in his tracks, looking stunned. You offered a smile, still embarrassed, watching as he turned his sharp gaze to Ryo.

Ryo shrugged his shoulders casually, not intimidated in the least. “I can finish the totals myself. Give you some time to deal with the _intruder_.”

Ryo passed by his boss, heading into the room before turning back with his hand on the door. “She’s cute. I approve.”

“You–” Sett didn’t get a chance to properly respond as Ryo closed the door on the dumbfounded pit boss.

You sheepishly approached him and he turned from facing the door to look down at you. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to surprise you.”

He snorted. “Nah, you just saved me another hour of bein’ stuck in there with _him_ ,” Sett replied, gesturing to the room behind him with a jerk of his head.

“You’re welcome, in that case!” you joked as he leaned down to kiss you.

He pulled away with a grin, wrapping an arm around your waist. “How about I show you the best seat in the house?”

You weren’t really sure what he meant, but you readily agreed. Sett led you back down the hall you had come from, walking back to the front door before turning down the wide hallway that you knew led to the fighting pits.

You thought he was taking you through the main doors into the pit, but he led you further down the hall and up to a black door that he pulled open for you. Ascending the stairs behind the door led you to an open doorway that opened up to the rows and rows of stands that surrounded the pit.

You were momentarily stunned at how different the pit looked from up above. The pit itself was large, but it looked so much smaller from above than it did when you had been down there. It felt weird looking down at the scene of one of the worst moments of your life, but you weren’t afraid. Not with Sett at your side. You were not weak and powerless, not anymore, and looking down at the pit from the other side of that awful moment proved that to you.

Sett led you around to the side of the stands until you found yourself beside a large chair lined with red fabric, the chair directly facing the far end of the pit. You realized immediately that this had been where Sett was sitting that night when you met eyes with him from down in the pit.

“You really left your mark,” Sett said, and you turned your head to see what he was looking at.

Your focus was immediately drawn to the wall behind the chair, the splash of black standing out against the russet-toned wall. You stepped away from Sett’s side to run a hand along the charred wall, black flecks coming off on your fingers.

“Thought you were aimin’ for me until I saw what the other guy looked like,” Sett commented.

“My fire got all the way over here?” you asked, feeling like you were stating the obvious.

Sett smirked. “Fastest match I’ve seen in a long time.”

You moved your hand away from the wall, rubbing your fingers together to rid them of the flecks of soot. You looked back to see Sett standing a few feet away, looking over the pit, his ears twitching towards you as he heard your footsteps approach him.

He placed his hands on the railing that separated the stands from the pit. “Hey, how ‘bout a match?”

Your eyes went wide. “Against _you_? I don’t have a death wish!”

Sett laughed. “I ain’t gonna kill ya. Besides, Inora would go crazy on me if I sent you back with a single scratch.”

“Is this some weird attempt to convince me to become a pit fighter?” you asked.

“Nah,” he replied. “You’re too hot when you fight. It’d be bad for business if I got hard every time my girl was on stage charrin’ some poor soul.”

“Sett!” you cried out, covering your face with your hands. Did he have no shame at all?

“C’mon, princess, it’ll be fun. I’ll even tie one hand behind my back,” he offered, sending you a confident grin before vaulting himself over the railing, easily landing on his feet despite the twenty foot drop.

You rushed to lean over the railing to see him staring up at you as if he hadn’t just jumped out of the stands when there were perfectly good staircases available. Inora was right, he really was such a show-off, especially as of late.

You reeled back slightly in surprise when he called your name, opening his arms wide in a gesture that left no room for misinterpretation.

“No, no way…” you said, before realizing that he definitely couldn’t hear your muttering from all the way down there and leaned forward again. “I’m not jumping down there! I’ll break my legs!”

“I’ll catch ya, stop worryin’!” he called back to you with a wide grin.

“This is dumb,” you said to yourself, finding it hard to refuse the big doofus’ request as you leaned over the railing to gage just how far the drop would be.

“Ain’t got all day, city girl!” Sett called up teasingly.

You felt like an idiot for even considering it, but you reluctantly put the bag of food down onto Sett’s fancy chair, not wanting it to get ruined by dropping it twenty feet along with you. This was dumb, but you knew that you would be fine. Sett was a lot to handle sometimes, but you were confident that he was worthy of your trust.

Keeping that thought at the forefront of your mind, you began to climb over the railing. You stood on the other side of the railing, still clinging to it to keep yourself from falling as you looked down to see Sett still in the same position just below you. Taking a deep breath, you counted to five before letting go of the railing and jumping off.

You were too scared to even scream as you fell, hoping you had aimed your jump correctly. As the ground came closer, you closed your eyes, too nervous to keep them open. Despite your worries, you were smoothly caught in Sett’s arms before you hit the ground.

You slowly opened your eyes to see Sett’s face just above your own, one eyebrow raised good naturedly as if to gently chastise you for ever having any doubts that he would catch you. You were set gently on the ground before you had a chance to say anything, and watched as Sett began to roll his shoulders back, stretching out the muscles in his arms.

You looked at him warily. “You really want to fight?”

“If I did, I’d have to charge ya,” he joked.

“Then what?” you countered, and watched as his expression darkened.

“I live a dangerous lifestyle, and it’s too late to try and hide that from ya like I do with ma,” he admitted. “And the scumbags in this town never rest. Bein’ associated with me is dangerous, and I wanna make sure anyone who thinks they can hurt you regrets even tryin’.”

You weren’t about to deny that your technical combat skills were as non-existent as they came. You owed the few victories you had seen in fights almost exclusively to luck, so learning some actual techniques would definitely be a benefit to you, especially if you had to deal with any more creeps ordering glassworks from you. You had been lucky that day that Sett had been there to rescue you, but he couldn’t always be there when you were in trouble.

“Okay,” you agreed. “What should I do?”

Sett turned, walking to the middle of the pit before turning back to you, his shoulders squared. “Come at me.”

He laughed at your incredulous look. “Relax, I won’t hurt ya. Just gonna block. Need to see what I’m workin’ with here.”

“It’s not gonna be much,” you muttered to yourself, reluctantly assuming what you hoped was a good fighting position, your arms up in a boxing stance.

Sett stayed silent as he stared you down, waiting for you to make a move. His stare unnerved you, and you desperately searched your brain for any possible strategies to use. You knew that this was to help you; Sett wasn’t expecting you to beat him or pull off any fancy combat maneuvers. But at the same time, you wanted to impress him. You wanted so badly for him to acknowledge you in an arena that he was abundantly skilled in. You would make it your mission to get the better of him just one time.

With that thought in your mind, you stalked towards him, looking for any possible weaknesses, but he was a brick wall, staunch and unmoving. You pushed yourself onward until you were within arm’s reach of him; wasting no time, you thrust your fist out to try and jab him in the stomach. Before you made contact, your fist was easily blocked, Sett’s fingers curling over your hand before he gently pushed you back.

“Try again,” he said, and you were surprised at the gentle undertones in his voice.

And so you did, this time aiming your fist at his arm, then aiming a kick at his side, both gently rebuffed by the large half-Vastayan. As your failed attacks continued to mount, you felt an inner drive to win emerge from deep inside you. But Sett was a very experienced pit fighter, as well as having more muscle on him than you could ever hope to achieve. You couldn’t hope to defeat him utterly, but the blank, appraising stare he continued to maintain in your direction really made you want to knock him on his ass.

You didn’t have to reinvent the wheel; you would just have to surprise him enough to gain even a moment’s advantage. All he had seen from you so far was your poorly-executed punches and kicks, but you still had one trick up your sleeve that you could only hope he wouldn’t see coming.

“No shame in admitting defeat,” Sett said with a grin. “You wouldn’t be the first.”

You ignored his words as you approached him, paying careful attention to seeming as innocent as possible, hoping that he thought you would be going in for another weak attack. And judging by his expression, he thought just that.

You threw a punch towards him, waiting until he moved his own arm to catch your first before you made your move. At once, you pulled your arm back upwards to direct flames straight at his face, while your other hand sent flames at his feet, making the ground underneath him unsteady.

As you had hoped, the shock of the fire licking at his face sent him reeling back, the unsteady ground underneath him causing him to stumble. Instead of giving him time to catch himself, you used the opportunity to dive at him, your added weight sending him crashing onto the ground, landing on his back with a grunt. You fell down with him, hands splayed on his chest and legs laid over his own.

You stared down at him with the haughtiest look you could manage. “No shame in admitting defeat,” you parroted back to him, unable to hold back your glee at getting the better of the experienced fighter.

Sett’s hand was at the back of your head almost instantly, pulling your face down for him to roughly lock your lips together. He was ruthless, and you couldn’t help a moan as his other hand massaged circles into your side. When he pulled away at last, you were left panting.

“You really don’t get just how hot you are when you go all out,” Sett said with a soft look in his eyes.

Sett shifted himself up, and you found yourself in his lap as he sat up, his arms still around you. You were relieved to see that you had held back properly; there were small beads of sweat from the heat of your fire on his neck and forehead, but the rest of his face showed no ill signs. It seemed that your guess was right; you were able to restrain your powers when you wanted them to be harmless to someone. You had suspected something like that after you had melted the group of thugs but left Sett unharmed.

You were excited that you had learned more about how your powers worked, but Sett didn’t seem to like being ignored for your thoughts. His hands on your waist leaned you backwards, and then before you could blink, you were pinned to the floor.

Sett had shifted entirely from work mode to play mode, it seemed. The stern, calculating look in his eyes was long gone, replaced by a twinkle of mischief that told you that he wasn’t done with you yet.

His body enveloped yours; he was so much bigger than you, easily able to cage your body thoroughly with his own. You suspected that your combat training was over for the day, as you doubted that this was a strategy he used with actual opponents in the pit.

You tried to struggle in his hold, but all that got you was Sett leaning further into you, caging your wrists together with one of his hands and supporting his weight with the other. You wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon if it was up to him, clearly.

You smiled up at him playfully. “How am I supposed to break out of this? You’re way too big for me to be able to do anything.”

His lips turned up in a sly grin. “You didn’t seem to mind me bein’ _too big_ a few nights ago.”

“Sett!” You gaped at him, a shiver rushing down your spine at the reminder of that memory.

It was clear where his mind was going, and while you didn’t mind cutting the lesson short, the setting he had chosen was a little lacking.

“Sett,” you said matter-of-factly, and he hummed in response, leaning down to kiss at your neck. “Is a dirty pit floor really the most romantic location you could think of?”

His lips at your neck stilled and he pulled away with an exaggerated sigh. “It ain’t even that dirty. Arena gets cleaned between nights.”

Sett stood back up, taking your hand to pull you up to your feet as well. You looked around the sandy ground, reluctantly agreeing with Sett’s assertion when you didn’t notice any bloodstains, teeth, or anything else you would associate with a place where people were beat up on the regular. But still, your standards weren’t quite low enough to want to do anything with Sett here.

You squeaked in surprise as Sett picked you up and began to walk to the pit’s exit doors. “My office sound good to ya?”

“I can walk, you know…” you protested weakly as Sett walked through the empty backstage area, turning to head down the hallway.

“Try sayin’ that again after I’m done with ya,” he replied smoothly as he shifted your body towards one of his arms, reaching out with the other one to open the door he had stopped in front of.

You hadn’t really gotten a good look at the room Sett had been in before, but you could easily tell that this room was much bigger. There was a large wooden desk at the center of the room, a bigger-than-average chair behind it, likely to accommodate Sett’s large frame. The floor was covered by a large burgundy rug that led up to where the desk was, and several smaller chairs sat in front of the desk, which you assumed was for visitors to his office.

Sett didn’t stop at the desk, instead walking past it and up to a lone door at the back of the room, gently kicking it open and walking through. The adjoining room was much smaller, with just enough room for a decently-sized backless couch.

“It’s a lot of work to run this damn place,” Sett said as he set you down on the couch. “Got this for when I don’t got enough time to go home and sleep.”

Before you could ask how often it was that he slept here, he was on you again, body pressing you back into the couch. You relaxed into the couch as he kissed you, realizing that you had missed him more than you thought despite the short time you had been apart.

You reached a hand up to trail your nails along one of his soft ears and then card through his hair, receiving a pleased rumble from deep in his chest against your lips in reply. Your other hand rested at the side of his neck as your tongues met, desperately trying to anchor yourself to him so you wouldn’t fall off of the couch.

Sett pulled back just as you were starting to feel a little too breathless. You were left confused as he backed off of the couch entirely, instead getting to his knees in front of it.

You yelped in surprise as he grabbed you by your ankles, twisting your body around so that you were facing him feet first. You watched him warily as he removed your shoes, gently tossing them aside. You had thought maybe this was his odd way of offering a foot massage or something until he reached up to your hips and began to pull your pants down your legs, his fingers hooked into your underwear as well to bring all the clothing from your lower half down and off your legs.

“What are you doing?” you asked as he tossed the clothes to the side to join your shoes. You wanted to squirm away from him and his probing gaze, but his large hands were on your knees, keeping your legs spread apart.

You felt shyness creep up on you, feeling very exposed, but one look at Sett’s happy grin momentarily distracted you. You still weren’t really sure what he was doing, but his adoring gaze was somehow making you feel even more self-conscious.

“Ya know, you’re not half bad in a fight,” Sett said, his hands moving from your knees up to your hips, pulling you forward until your ass was right at the edge of the couch, Sett on the ground between your legs. “And you came here just t’ surprise me. Let me give my girl a little reward, ‘kay?”

You were so stunned by what he was implying that all you could do was blush as he lifted your lower half up by your thighs. “Legs around my shoulders, princess.”

There was no way that you could pretend that you didn’t know what his intentions were at this point, so you steeled your nerves and allowed your legs to be moved over his shoulders. As soon as you were more or less secured in place, Sett dove forward, his hands under your ass to lift your lower body further towards his face before his mouth was on you.

You cried out, leaning your upper body back onto the couch as Sett’s tongue flicked against your clit. Your eyes fluttered closed as he moved onwards, grazing your clit gently with his teeth before licking along your folds. His motions easily betrayed his eagerness as his hot breath washed over your most sensitive areas before he darted his tongue inside you as you squirmed around, unable to keep your moans and cries from bubbling up from your throat as he ate you out.

Your breath hitched as Sett’s tongue pressed even deeper inside you, his teeth gently nudging against your skin. He was relentless, and it was all you could do to writhe against the couch, nails digging into the soft material as Sett moved back to suck at your clit. You knew that you couldn’t hang on much longer, crying out Sett’s name in a breathy voice as the pleasure you were feeling crested to a peak.

Sett pulled away just as you felt overstimulation creeping up on you. You were left panting as you laid there, opening your eyes at last to see Sett staring at you, looking especially proud of himself.

“Feelin’ good, baby?” he asked with a toothy grin.

“Yeah…” you admitted shyly.

“Hope you’re ready to feel even better,” he said, standing up.

When he just stood there, staring inquisitively at you, you realized that he was looking for approval from you to do what he clearly wanted to do next. You sat up slowly, legs feeling like jelly. You brushed some loose strands of hair behind your ear before bringing your hands to the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head along with your bra. You felt an immediate surge of confidence as Sett’s attention was immediately drawn to your breasts, and with how tight his pants were, it was easy for you to see just how turned on he was.

“Just wanna be inside you already,” he said as he reached down to unzip his pants. “You’re too hot for your own good.”

Sett hastily removed his own clothing, uncaring to where it landed in his urgency to get naked. Turning his attention back to you, he lifted you easily, sitting down on the couch and placing you in his lap.

You leaned into him, reaching a hand up to stroke his ears, smiling happily as he closed his eyes at your touch. The fur of his ears was as soft as ever; it felt like you were petting a cat. A large, half-Noxian cat. Probably a bad train of thought to get distracted by in a moment like this, but his adorable ears were just so out of place with his otherwise-intimidating exterior.

“’Nuff of that,” Sett said, his voice sounding strained, hips rolling up against yours in an effort to remind you of his still very hard cock that was currently pressed up against your stomach.

You weren’t about to deny him a release, especially with how bad you wanted this too. Putting a hand on his shoulder, you lifted yourself up slightly, just enough to be able to grasp his cock so you could sink down onto him.

Sett’s eyes stayed locked with yours, his jaw clenching just a bit as you sunk down onto him, his large hands gripping your waist as your hips met. His eyes were dark with want as he lifted you up slightly before bringing you back down onto him, the growl he let out at the feeling making you dizzy with need for him.

Sett had boundless energy, his motions not wavering for an instant. As you both got closer and closer, he insistently sought your lips, catching them with his own every time he brought you back down. You kissed him back as well as you could with how overwhelmed you currently were, your nails digging into his shoulders as you tried to focus on every sensation you were experiencing as one.

He brought you down onto him more and more harshly, bucking his hips up to meet your own. Eventually, even Sett was too overwhelmed to focus on kissing you, groaning your name as he came, pulling you tightly against him. His lips pressed against your neck as he rutted gently against you, his fingers rubbing at your clit for the few moments more that it took for you to join him over the edge.

You were panting from exertion as Sett rested his forehead against yours. “Glad you came out t’ the pit.”

His words helped clear the post-sex fog from your mind, and you shook your head quickly as you remembered why it was you had come to see him. You jolted up, and would have fell over if it hadn’t been for Sett’s hands keeping you steady astride his lap.

“Woah, what–”

“The cabbage rolls!” you interrupted him. “I left them back in the stands.”

Sett gripped your chin and turned your face back towards his, raising an eyebrow at you. “Cabbage rolls?” he asked playfully.

“Oh.” You were a little embarrassed to be caught in your own world right in front of him. “I told Ciorah I wanted to surprise you at work and she helped me make some cabbage rolls since she said they were your favorite.”

Sett’s grin was dazzling as he leaned in for a chaste kiss. “You tryin’ to bribe me?”

“Bribe you for what?” you replied teasingly. “I don’t need to bribe you to beat you in a fight if you recall half an hour ago.”

“Oh yeah?” Sett replied lowly, a challenge glowing in his eyes. “You sayin’ you want a rematch?”

Sett picked you up before you could reply, and you hastily grabbed at his biceps to keep yourself steady. “Sett, what–”

He shrugged in response, poorly feigning innocence. “Hey, you’re the one startin’ things with me. The boss’s gotta defend his title.”

“Not while we’re naked!” you protested, wriggling in his hold. “Ryo could–”

Sett sighed in mock annoyance. “Can’t make up her mind.”

“What? But you were the one who suddenly…” you trailed off indignantly.

“Just wanted to tease ya,” he replied with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the faces you make.”

He turned back to the couch, setting you back down on it before bending down to pick up his discarded pants. He pulled them on, zipping them most of the way up before turning his attention back to you.

“I should visit you at work next time,” he suggested.

You fixed him with an unimpressed look. “Last time you were at my _work_ , you grabbed my butt in front of my boss!”

Sett laughed loudly in response. “I’ll do it when she’s not lookin’ next time.”

He was not quite fast enough to dodge the shoe you threw at his head.


End file.
